Milford chronicle., 1958-01-10
G. o. P. PROSPECTS

G. o. P. PROSPECTS
Prospects for Republicans gaining con-
troll of Congress next year are not being help
ed by the retirement of five Republican Sem
ators in the upper u. S. legislative body. And
this coming in, off year, as far as elections
are concerned, makes it doubly difficult for
the G. o. P. to pick up ground.
Expected to retire after this year in the
Senate are Senators Jenner, of Indiana; II.
Alexander Smith, of New Jersey; Senator
Knowland, of California; Senator Payne, of
Maine and Senator Martin of Pennsylva-
mia.
The Democrats now control the Senate,
50-46 In an off-year election the party not
in power lin the Executive Department. is
usually strong in a congressional election.
That would seem to make it highly doubtful
that the Republicans can win control of the
Senate.
In the House, it is said that dissatisfac
tion with the defense program, and an ex-
pected recession, will hurt G.. o. P. chances
in this body. The G. o. P. Representatives
up for reelection in this body and other
G.. o. p. challengers, are also facing the off
year jinx in this campaign.
So it may be that President Eisenhower
will have G.. o. P. Congress only two years
of the eight he serves-if he serves eight.
AS need not be stated, the best in cooper
ative and effective government is not uSu-
ally achieved when the President and the
majority in Congress are of different party
affiliation.
The real race, which will come in 1860,
is being watched by strategists in both par
ties. If the Republicans lose ground in 1858,
and if dissatisfaction over the defense and
economic issues is high, Vice President
Richard Nixon may be in for hard campaign
ing come 1960 assuming he is the nominee
for President. Prospects for the G. 0. P,
politically, then, have nose-dived in recent
months.
COMING: POTATO FLAKES
Though Americans like to eat well, and
do, they are not above complaining about
what they have to pay for the privilege. 1t
is often noted that, while food is more plen-
tiful than ever before, supplying the table
these days is a lot more expensive than it
used to be.
And so it is But why? One excellent rea-
son is that foods are subjected to much more
processing than used to be the case. The
emphasis is increasingly on making things
easier for the housewife. Many preliminary
steps in the preparation of food-and quite
a few steps well along the way-are taken
by the professors. That leaves less to be
done in the kitchen. But it also leaves more
to be done by the family pocketbook.
In 1857, as in the past few years. new
varieties of so-called convenience foods were
perfected. Potato flakes, reported to be a
great improvement over other attempts to
proCIce instant" spuds that taste freshly
mashed, will soon be on the market. So will
variety of fruit juice powders that make
'fresh" juices when combined with water.
When these and other new products be
come generally available housewives will
doubtless snap them up and give them kitch-
en- shelf space. The point is that when the
housewife buys thing like that she is not
buying merely food, but kitchen help. That
is something to remember when the price
! of eating seems exhorbitant.
THE HUNT is ON
The season of the committee is upon us,
and it's every man for himself All those
who spent the summer luxuriating in free
dom may as well know the worst: The annual
. hunt is on for persons to do the work and
attend the meetings and, in general, Take
Responsibility.
Some folks love this sort of thing. They
relishN the task of organizing ideas and peo-
pie, of planning meetings and securing speak
ers and making things hum in all those ex-
tra-curricular activities that Americans in
dulge in. Others are willing, though some
what reluctant They are the sort who don't
want to be chairman but often do pretty well
as committee work horses. And then, of
course, there are those who have to be drag
ged in by the heels-frequently with their
wives doing the dragging prodded into
committee action.
No reader should assume, because of our
harried tone, that we deplore this situation
On the contrary, we are convinced that Am
erican society would slow down and perhaps
grind to halt were it not for the great flow
ering of committees that pour out millions
of work hours for everything from the Boy
Scouts and the PTA to the Society for the
Discouragement of Leaf-burning. All hail