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Federal Circuit Judge Joseph C. Hutcheson, who holds court in New Orleans, Louisiana, is forming a "View With Alarm Party" in the South. "The two acid tests of an American," says Judge Hutcheson, "are that he must, first, be a patriot and believe that his country's form of government, as contrasted with its actual government, is the best on earth. Second, he must believe that unless his country's actual government (the prevailing administration) is constantly viewed with alarm and its actions constantly checked and restrained, it is quite likely to turn out to be the worst on earth."

This veteran Southern jurist evidently believes, as did Abraham Lincoln, that it is the duty of the citizenship to investigate and stick our noses into our country's business, and that the more serious conditions are, the more definitely is this our duty. Those who shun this duty of citizenship are in fact traitors to the best w-e hold dear.

Therefore the call at this time, and in the days that are ahead of us, is for courage; the courage to do and say what we think about our couhtry, its management, and its future. Don't let us forget for a moment, in spite of the propaganda from Washington, that we, you and I and all of us, are the government, and that saving this nation is OUR job, and not solely that of politicians, striving frantically to hold their jobs.

'fhe results of the recent election have given courage to thousands who were previously doubtful of what faces us. We saw various politicians go into oblivion via the vote route, who had previouslv seemed invulnerable. We saw a number of very, very dangerous characters shuffled into the discard. And it makes our hearts strong to think that from now on, whenever some wild-eyed planner and spender jumps up and shouts, "We've got to send eleventy-seven billions to Kukamunga," there will be many of those ready to rise to their feet and demand_.,who says 56 ?"_and, .,why should we ?" up until the recent election stout voices asking practical and vital questions had not been too plentiful. There will be plenty of them from now on. Votes have given them codrage.

We will miss in the lower house of Congress Representative Robert Rich, of Pennsylvania, who voluntarily retired this season. For many years Mr. Rich has been constantly rising to his feet in the House to ask and keep asking that very potent but entirely unpopular question-"Where are you going to get the money ?" He asked that question every time the spenders and the wasters suggested another raid on the taxpayers. And he decided to quit because he got so little backing or cooperation in his effort to make his fellow law makers think in terms of economy and common sense. But he can rejoice, for from now on there will be plenty of voices raised in Congress to ask that same question.

Perhaps something may be done about government subsidies and other activities that keep the price of food mountain high. Some authority recently estimattd that our government is still spending about $1300 a minute, 24hours of every day, to keep food prices high to the consumer. The estimate showed th4t we will spend nearly one and one-half billions of dollars this fiscal year for food price supports. Which means that we are spending $90 for every man, woman, and child in the nation to maintain a support program that forces them to pay high prices at the corner grocery store. S.yt.g it another way, it means that taxpayers are losing about $77,000 an hour on a 2|hour basis for farm price supports. The survey shows that the government has more than $2,6(X),000 of the taxpayers money tied up in so-called surplus commodities. We have unbelievable quantities of butter, eggs, milk, and potatoes on hand. None of this was used to feed our troops irrthe Korean war. The army bought in the open market. In June, according to report, the army bought about four and one-half million dollars worth of butter and eggs for our troops, while our warehouses bulged with surpluses of those foods. All this has been gone over in the public press innumerable times. Nothing has been done to change the insanity of the situation. With new courage, perhaps something may now be done.

We have embarked on the costliest program of armament ever undertaken on earth. It is necessary. It is vitd. It has got to be done. We have got to pay for it. But certainly it is our duty to see that it is done in such intelligent fashion that our economy may not be devastated. That will take brains. It will require an entirely difterent sort of intelligence than the kind that spent fifty billions of dollars for defense previous to the outbreak of war in Korea, and then found that we had precious little to show for the huge investment. If we proceeded on that same basis and got no more for our money than we did before, we couldn't possibly finance the bills \ re are piling up. It must be done in entirely difrerent fashion.

Even some of the thickest heads in Washington saem to have suddenly awakened to the fact that we cannot finance ourselves and all the rest of the world as we have been doing. We are going to have to scrutinize our spending abroad, so they now say. We ARE, boys, we ARE. And we're going to have to scrutinize it with a heavy hand and a broad axe. One of the best writers and thinkers I know said on returning from Europe recently that Americans are going to have to work harder than ever, so that the Europeans may loaf. Perhaps we will now have the courage to figure out a plan much fairer to the American taxpayer than that.

Perhaps from norv on instead of furnishing all the men, all the blood, all the money for the rest of a lazy world, we will change our plans to a point where *e will simply ASSIST those parts of the world that are doing everything possible for themselves. Unless we understand the English language very vaguely, the American of today is sick of spending, defending, financing, and dying for the rest of the world, rvhile most of the world simply stands back and lets us handle the entire burden.

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