Daily Journal (Newspaper) - December 8, 1977, Fergus Falls, Minnesota FERGUS FALLS Uncertainty surrounds farm strike Ml ADAr It MINNEAPOLIS AP Minnesota farmers may stop selling and buying in record numbers next Wednesday on the first day of a national farmers strike Or they may not It's pretty hard to predict said Tom Benson who is ning the Minnesota office of the American Agriculture ment in Appleton We don't have memberships or dues is supposed to do what they can do The problem with estimates results from the makeup of the radical agriculture group hat was organized in Colorado last September About all hat holds the movement together is a common goal 100 percent of parity pricing and a Dec 14 strike date The grassroots movement has publicized its goals in numerous rallies across the nation with farmers driving tractors into towns to illustrate their cause Minnesota has had its share of rallies or cades the most recent in Appleton last weekend On Saturday the growl of tractors will surround the Capitol as tractors con- Prices may be boosted by middlemen ST PAUL Minn AP Minnesota Agriculture Com- missioner BiU Walker says there is a danger of middlemen using the upcoming farm strike as an excuse to boost prices at the expense of farmers and consumers alike Walker said in an interview Wednesday that he strongly supports the strike goals though stopping short of en- dorsing a strategy for next spring I personally believe they ought to Walker said adding that bare ground next year would leave farmers with no alternatives Walker said he will do what he can to make certain men don't reap benefits from the strike at the expense of consumers on the one hand and farmers on the other I'm going to be on top of it making public anybody raising prices and blaming farmers if in fact the farmer isn't getting economic the com- missioner said The American Agriculture Movement a fast-growing but national work of fanners has scheduled a strike for next Wednesday The idea is to hold farm com- off the market and halt the purchase of farm equipment and supplies in an effort to raise prices paid ers for their product Walker says he has no idea whether the strike will work It's no secret that farmers have never been unified and I don't think the unity they crave will be there said But he said there is no way to know until after the strike deadline comes He foresees no radical over- night change for consumer prices but that the cheap food and cheap energy binge Americans have enjoyed is coming to an end Consumers have to start Waller Continued on Page 20 WASHINGTON AP President Carter can claim an important victory in congressional negotiators approval of a tax on wasting cars But a final agreement on the toughest energy problems seems as sive as ever If accepted by a second con- ference committee and then by the House and Senate the auto tax would cost buyers of in- efficient cars up to a figure that would soar to as much as on 1985 models The tax was approved Wednesday by the conference committee on energy taxes Another part of the com- promise approved by the committee would allow the 19 million motorists who itemize income tax deductions to continue to take a deduction for state and local gasoline taxes The House had voted to end that tax break Even with those agreements it seems unlikely that Congress will be able to wrap up work this year on Carter's energy program The two energy conference committees still face the est issues of the price of natural gas a tax on domestic crude oil to force conservation and the distribution of revenues from that tax There appears to be a ening of positions on key issues Sen Howard Metzenbaum who supports Carter's plan to keep federal controls on the price of natural gas said We have no leeway in our position no flexibility Rep Anthony Moffelt D- Conn said an increasing ber of House members would certainly rather have no than to move too far toward deregulation of natural gas prices which is favored by the Senate And Sen Russell B D- lj the chief Senate delegate at the tax committee was sharply critical of the Carter administration for what he called its refusal to com- promise on giving the oil and gas industry additional in- to increase production The panel con- natural gas faced an- other session today with little prospect of progress The tax panel after ing the auto tax adjourned un- til next week to give staff members time to work out some proposals for taxing tories and power plants that burn large amounts of oil or natural gas The vote on the auto tax was the first major agreement reached by the tax conferees in 11 days of meetings The tax is not expected to save a great deal of energy only about barrels of oil a day compared to current U.S consumption of 18 million rels a day But backers view the tax as a highly visible tool to make Americans aware of the need to conserve fuel The tax would be paid directly by the buyer of any car that does not meet minimum standards It would be in ad- dition to a heavy fine on any manufacturer whose fleet of new cars did not meet mileage standards While the turer would have to pay that penalty it would be passed along to customers as higher car prices On the Inside verge in St Paul for an after- noon rally Again only vague on the turnout are available If we have a good day I wouldn't be surprised to see a couple hundred tractors and maybe Benson said But if it's cold like today or if we've got a bad storm attendance will be cut hack quite a bit The movement's national headquarters in Springfield Colo claims 2.5 million ers will follow the dictates of strike leaders That would be almost 50 percent of the farmers and ranchers Reggy a spokesman for the Springfield office says he thinks the strike will be short and successful How long can you go he asks But other leaders say non- striking farmers could the nation's requirements for farm goods through winter The strike could be a long one they claim The strike has been endorsed by numerous officials across the country including the tional Farmers Organization and a number of state groups In Minnesota state Agriculture Commissioner Walker Wednesday endorsed the strike but said he could not support a proposal to delay or eliminate planting next spring Hep Richard Nolan D- Minn whose sprawling 6th District is almost wholly rural says the nationwide are developing port in Congress You don't need 100 percent participation to make it Nolan said of the strike All you need are some pace ters Nolan has endorsed the strike saying the withholding of goods and services has long been an accepted tool by ness by labor unions and teacher groups The first impact of the strike is expected to be on sales of farm supplies seed chemicals and implements At a recent trade show in Fargo supply dealers from the Upper Mid- west said their winter sales have been dramatically re- One reason has been a dis- year for grain prices but the impending strike is also Continued 20 Carter claims energy victory A Christmas Carol Fifth and sixth graders al Lincoln School performed Dickens A Christmas Carol at Eisenhower PTA Tuesday evening before a crowd of 175 Scenes clockwise from the upper Bruce and his daughter natch Tory BUdow played Scrooge and Bob Empey played Marty's Ghost Sixth graders sang carols before the play Kathy Boss fifth grade teacher helps Susan Nelson with her costume Angels included Debbie Wollan and Rlsa Westergard nice Roysland directed the play and Lacy Wing directed the music Journal photos by Harley Wholesale prices rise 0.7 pet WASHINGTON Wholesale prices rose 0.7 cent in November as the cost of food continued to climb al a rapid rate the ment said today The wholesale price increase iras smaller than the 0.6 cent gain in October but it was still enough to contribute sub- to inflation Farm products rose 3 percent in cost for I be month after a 2.4 percent rise in October and five months of declines before that The prices of industrial com- rose 0.4 percent com- pared with a 0.6 percent in- crease the month before in- that food prices have been the main cause of the two- month jump in wholesale prices Prices paid to wholesalers usually show up later retail stores and are considered an early warning of inflation trends Most of food price increases had not been ed at supermarkets in the latest consumer price report for October Wholesale price increases usually take a few months to show up in the Consumer Price Index which measures the inflation rate That index ent up a moderate 0.3 percent in each of the last three months The Department said the price of finished goods which may be a more accurate indicator than the Wholesale Price Index rose 0.4 percent naif the 0.8 percent increase the month before This index does not duplicate price changes as they move through all stages of processing finished consumer foods rose 0.4 percent the second con- monthly increase after four months of decreases Prices were higher for beef and veal fresh and dried tables dairy products cereal and bakery products processed fruits and vegetables and sugar Prices were lower for roasted pork processed poultry and fresh fruits Prices in consumer durable goods which are long-lasting products rose only 9.1 percent mainly because of smaller rises for jewelry and passenger cars Prices increased sharply for gasoline and home heating oil but declined for tobacco The main reason for the Prices Continued on Page 20 Abortion funds issue may still come up again WASHINGTON AP Con- gress is ending its debate over public payments for poor abortions but members ready are predicting that the issue will come up again After more than four months of bitter argument the House and Senate agreed Wednesday on conditions for abortion ing through the Medicaid gram which serves mostly poor people The agreement freed a billion appropriation for the government's major social service agencies and teed that the employees involved would receive full paychecks before Christmas Without an agreement on the measure their checks would have been cut in half as the agencies ran out of payroll money The dispute arose in con- with the funding authorization for the ments of and Health Education and Welfare in fiscal year 1978 Ten smaller agencies also depended upon the legislation for their budgets The compromise calls for abortion payments when a woman might die by going through a full pregnancy for rape or incest victims who make prompt reports to law en- forcement or public health thor and in cases where two doctors certify that a woman would suffer severe and long- lasting physical health damage because of a pregnancy The House and Senate agreed from beginning that tion payments should be vided when a pregnant an's life was threatened But they differed on other points The Senate wa to take the physical and mental health of the woman and the fetus into Webber said he left for Winona account The House in ing to go that far ruled out en- tirely any exceptions for fetal health and a woman's mental health The House also insisted on limits to the exemptions for a woman's physical health The provisions for rape and incest victims were among the most controversial The House members were willing to vide in case of forced rape But they opposed the rape provision which covers pregnancies of women below the legal age of The Senate reluctantly agreed to the reporting ments to satisfy House con- cerns that the would encourage fraud Weather roundup Travelers advisory tonight Light snow or flurries becoming windy with con- blowing and drifting snow continuing tonight which ill make driving hazardous Bitterly cold tonight Clear o partly cloudy and very cold Friday Northerly winds 25 to 40 mph diminishing a little late Lows tonight 20 to 30 below Highs Friday J below to 15 below Probability of measurable precipitation 20 percent tonight High 7 -6 1 Precipitation 24 hours ending 8 04 Sunrise Temperatures One Year Ago G -13 Since asked Page 8 Area happenings Page II On the local scene Page 12 AUSTIN Minn AP Bruce Webber told a ville Wis bartender he had to go back to Winona the night Shirleen Howard was slain in the basement of her home the bartender toH a jury at ber's murder trial today Webber 36 Rockdale III is charged with murder and con- in Mrs Howard's death Donald Howard is charged with hiring Webber to do the killing Mrs Dora Black ville was one of six witnesses called by the state by midday today She identified Webber as one of two men sitting in the Acorn Ballroom at 7 p.m on Aug 13 when she came to work She asked the men to stay to listen to a band in the evening but Webber said she had to go to Winona she testified She said Webber left between p.m and p.m before two other examination that the may have come to work early Brommerich has given a statement to the defense that Webber was still in the bar when he arrived Mrs Howard employes Ervin and Bonnie that Howard came to his home Brommerich came to work She last when Webber was acknowledged under cross staying there to discuss the purchase of some power tools said he and his wife had been considering the purchase and Webber told them he had arranged for a discount from Howard Terry of was slain just after 9 p.m on ence Iowa who worked in the night of Aug 13 Howard's store from March The operators of the Sunshine Bar in Winona Mr and Mrs Robert Mueller testified early today that they saw Webber in their bar around p.m and that Howard joined him in a booth for a talk In testimony Wednesday witnesses said they saw Webber and Howard together before the murder and lhat Webber was registered al a Winona motel on the night Mrs Files don't Warren Commission Howard was kitted Webber's nephew Roy Riska of Winona testified Wednesday 1976 to June 1977 testified that Webber had been in the store often in the fall of 1976 for long conversations with Howard in the office or at the back of the store Tekippe said Webber came to the store quite larly if not every day every other day Howard told him that Webber always carried a weapon kippe said He said that in late March or early April he asked to see the weapon and Webber WASHINGTON AP The FBI has opened its files on the assassination of President John F Kennedy but this has so far not closed the case on two year-old Did I Harvey Oswald der the president on his And if so why? A preliminary reading of the files released Wednesday does not refute the Warren sion conclusion that Oswald acted independently What does emerge from the pages from the records another are to be released in is a sharpened picture of the frantic days following Kennedy's der in Dallas on Nov They show two hours of the president's death FBI Director J Edgar Hoover believed the crime was committed by wald whom he called a minded individual in the egory of a nut as quickly bureau agents began a hunt of un- precedented magnitude ning down thousands of leads ranging from reports of a plot to threatening graffiti on lavatory walls Hoover presided over the in- urging speed yet thoroughness by his agents Al the same time he worked to preserve his bureau's image pressuring our many friends in the news media The of files give a vivid portrait a nation denly gone mad Hundreds thousands of Americans said they had seen or talked with Oswald in almost every part of country A woman in Akron Ohio said she had asked Oswald to dance with her in a local gin mill shortly before the nation Oswald refused and just sat in a chair and cried So she danced with a Mr Huby in- stead Others said they had seen wald and Jack Ruby the Dallas nightclub owner who shot him dead Nov together in many places An Atlanta telephone ator reported placing long dis- tance phone calls to Oswald and then Ruby in Dallas early that November Phone company records showed no such calls Agents doggedly ran down all such leads All too often they ended in a blind rat in- frequently a blind ley More serious paths led ward Fidel Castro Communist leader of Cuba The FBI ed a letter from Havana to wald mentioning money Files
