The People Act 50-12-23 (03) A Prairie Noel

Summary

Podcast Summary: "The People Act 50-12-23 (03) A Prairie Noel"

Podcast Information:

• Title: Harold's Old Time Radio
• Host/Author: Harolds Old Time Radio
• Episode: The People Act 50-12-23 (03) A Prairie Noel
• Release Date: April 6, 2025

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Introduction: A Heartwarming Christmas Tale

In the episode titled "A Prairie Noel," hosted by Harold's Old Time Radio, listeners are transported back to the Golden Age of Radio. This episode captures the essence of community spirit and international friendship through the touching story of Morganville, Kansas, and its heartfelt connection with Fevre, a small town in France. Set against the backdrop of the Christmas season, the narrative highlights how 250 individuals from Morganville embarked on a mission to foster peace and goodwill across continents.

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Establishing the Bond: From Isolation to Outreach

Narrator Ben Grauer sets the stage by describing Morganville as "Main Street, America," emphasizing its representation of democratic action and interdependence in a complex world (02:09). The town’s initiative began with a desire to break away from previous isolationist attempts.

Velma Carson, Morganville's most "world-minded citizen," recounts their initial efforts to connect with the world:

"We tried pen pals, but somehow or other the correspondences died. We tried sending out money and clothes, but we really had no contact because we didn't know whether they ever got there or not."
— Velma Carson (04:44)

This frustration led Morganville to reach out to Operation Democracy, an organization facilitating connections between "lonely cities." Leif Todd, Executive Secretary of Operation Democracy, responded promptly, proposing several small European towns for Morganville to adopt (05:52).

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Community Mobilization: The Pageant for Peace

The arrival of Todd's letter acted as a "trumpet call for assembly," prompting a community gathering on Velma Carson's porch. Attendees included a diverse cross-section of Morganville, from farmers like Lon Silver to school superintendents and high school pupils (07:06).

During the meeting, the community deliberated on which town to adopt, eventually selecting Fevre, France, due to shared agricultural backgrounds and a desire to foster friendly relations despite past wartime tensions.

To fund their initiative, Morganville organized a pageant titled "One World or None." This community-driven event involved extensive participation, with over 150 residents contributing costumes, performances, and resources (13:28). Key moments from the pageant included diverse cultural presentations, such as Swedish dances and Chinese performances, showcasing Morganville’s multicultural heritage.

Lon Silver reflected on the pageant’s success:

"We started out this pageant with the idea of using the people in Morganville, intending to have about 30 people. The thing grew, and finally we wound up with 150 people. And it was a community project."
— Agnes Huff (13:28)

The pageant successfully raised $1,000, which was immediately directed towards essential supplies for Fevre, including rice, sugar, cereals, powdered milk, blankets, and diapers (16:42).

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Strengthening Ties: Exchanges and Mutual Support

Morganville’s generosity extended beyond monetary aid. Lon Silver embarked on a "farmer's friendship tour" to Europe, visiting Fevre to personally connect with their newfound friends. Despite initial refusals to accept financial assistance, exchanges of goods such as tractor tracks and seeds became pivotal in strengthening the relationship (18:28).

Ovid Jacobsen, a distinguished Kansas artist, facilitated cultural exchanges by exhibiting his paintings in Fevre, fostering a deeper understanding and appreciation between the two communities (20:38). In gratitude, Fevre responded with their own cultural offerings, such as wax-etched representations of their community.

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Economic Implications: Lessons from Dr. Percy W. Bidwell

The episode transitions to a discussion with Dr. Percy W. Bidwell, Director of Studies for the Council on Foreign Relations and a member of the 20th Century Fund's committee on Foreign Economic Relations. Dr. Bidwell elaborates on the broader economic significance of such international friendships:

"We can't sell abroad unless foreigners have dollars. And the only way they can get dollars is by selling some of their products to us."
— Lon Silver (26:03)

He explains the dollar problem, where American exports require foreign countries to have dollars, which they obtain by buying American goods. This cyclical relationship emphasizes the importance of increasing imports to alleviate economic strains, especially during periods of rearmament and defense programs (27:14).

Dr. Bidwell further highlights that increasing imports not only balances trade but also helps in counteracting inflation and reducing living costs for American consumers (28:10).

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Conclusion: A Model of Mutual Tolerance and Respect

The episode wraps up by underscoring the moral and practical lessons derived from Morganville and Fevre's relationship. Reverend Joe Buckles of Morganville encapsulates the sentiment:

"I think most of us feel here that we've not only made a contribution to Fevre, but in a very real way Fevre has made a contribution to us."
— Reverend Joe Buckles (22:52)

Leif Todd emphasizes that democracy is more than rhetoric; it’s about active participation and fostering friendly relations both locally and globally. The story of Morganville serves as an inspiring blueprint for communities to engage in meaningful international friendships, promoting peace and mutual understanding.

Velma Carson concludes:

"We had attempted to make ourselves equal by sharing. And then we were ready to come back to the old friendship of ideas. And we were now ready to begin that friendship."
— Velma Carson (22:29)

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Key Takeaways:

• Community Action: Morganville's proactive approach in organizing a pageant and fundraising exemplifies effective grassroots initiatives.

• Cultural Exchange: Mutual cultural exchanges strengthened bonds, fostering deeper understanding and appreciation between communities.

• Economic Interdependence: The discussion on trade highlights the intricacies of international economics and the importance of balanced imports and exports.

• Moral Leadership: Leaders like Velma Carson and Lon Silver demonstrate how individual and collective actions can lead to meaningful global impact.

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Notable Quotes:

1. Velma Carson on initial outreach challenges:

   "We tried pen pals, but somehow or other the correspondences died..."
   — 04:44

2. Lon Silver on the significance of adopting Fevre:

   "Fev's was my selection because some of the destruction was done by our boys..."
   — 08:49

3. Reverend Joe Buckles on mutual contributions:

   "We've not only made a contribution to Fev, but in a very real way Fev has made a contribution to us."
   — 22:52

4. Dr. Percy W. Bidwell on the dollar problem:

   "We can't sell abroad unless foreigners have dollars..."
   — 26:03

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Final Thoughts

"A Prairie Noel" serves as a poignant reminder of the power of community solidarity and international friendship. Through the story of Morganville and Fevre, listeners are encouraged to believe in the impact of collaborative efforts in fostering global peace and understanding, particularly during the festive Christmas season.

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Timestamps Reference:

• 02:09 - Introduction to Morganville's story.
• 04:44 - Velma Carson discusses initial outreach efforts.
• 07:06 - Community gathers on Velma Carson's porch.
• 13:28 - Agnes Huff reflects on the pageant's growth.
• 16:42 - Success of the pageant and fundraising.
• 18:28 - Lon Silver's visit to Fevre.
• 20:38 - Ovid Jacobsen's cultural contribution.
• 22:29 - Velma Carson's concluding remarks.
• 22:52 - Reverend Joe Buckles on mutual contributions.
• 26:03 - Discussion on economic interdependence.

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This summary aims to encapsulate the essence of the "A Prairie Noel" episode, providing a comprehensive overview for those who haven't listened to the original broadcast.

Transcript

[Elmore McKee]

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[Ben Grauer]

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[Elmore McKee]

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[Ben Grauer]

You can help deliver a clean bill of health. Call 1-800-GRAINGER clickgranger.com or just stop by Granger for the ones who get it done. The Season's Greetings, America. This is Ben Grauer speaking. These are the actual voices of people in a little Kansas town, blending in the words of a Swedish hymn as they told the story of how their farm community on the edge of the great American prairie bound itself in spirit and substance with a similar town a half continent and an ocean away. A story truly befitting the Christmas season. A story of what 250 people did to help bring peace on Earth goodwill toward men.

[Elmore McKee]

Living 1950, in cooperation with the 20th Century Fund, presents the third in a special series of programs entitled the People act, designed to penetrate America to its grassroots and discover the characteristic and democratic ways in which American citizens unite to solve some of their everyday problems. This story was assembled and transcribed by NBC Special Program Unit living 1950. Listen now to a Prairie Noel. Ladies and gentlemen, your field reporter, Elmore McKee.

[Leif Todd]

How do you do? Our story today is set in Morganville, Kansas, in truth, Main Street, America. And it is more than a story of democracy in action. It shows us how in this modern, complex world, we are all dependent upon one another for survival. We took our recording machine to Morganville and asked the people there to tell their story themselves. For that story, we return you to your narrator, Ben Grauer.

[Ben Grauer]

It's harvest time in Kansas. The month is July and the year 48. Out in the fields that stretch level and unbroken to the horizon, the combines are busily reaping Morganville's harvest of wheat and oats. And in Morganville itself, old Lon Silver sits in the shade, looks out toward the fruitful fields and remembers well, in.

[Lon Silver]

The old days it was pretty wild here. The Indians were running up and down here pounds up, and as a kid I was scared to death of them. The minute I saw an Indian coming towards the house, I made a beeline for under the bed and got there and stayed there until they left. They had no roads. We had no railroads, transportation. Mostly orcs, things.

[Ben Grauer]

Lon Silver dreaming in the shade, dreaming of the days of 1860 when Old Ebenezer Morgan, Yankee Sea captain and the founder of this Kansas town sought refuge here from rum whaling in the sea. And as old Lon Silver dozed and dreamed, those to whom Morganville belongs today, those in the fields reaping the wheat and oats, those in the kitchens preparing the night's supper, they thought otherwise from the past war.

[Velma Carson]

And before the war came, we tried isolation. Then we found that we weren't isolated, that they reached out and found us anyhow. So this time we thought that surely we could reach out to the world instead of waiting until they came to us.

[Ben Grauer]

That's Velma Carson, Morganville's most world minded citizen. Listen as she recorded for us her account of their first groping efforts to reach out to the world.

[Velma Carson]

We tried pen pals, but somehow or other the correspondences died. We tried sending out money and clothes, but we really had no contact because we didn't know whether they ever got there or not. We tried reading the papers, but they only filled us with display. We tried being religious, but at every meeting of the Youth Fellowship or the Young Adults or the Sunday School, we thought that religion wasn't enough unless we did some one affirmative thing. And what that thing would be, we didn't know.

[Ben Grauer]

No, they didn't know until in a nearby community, Morganville, heard how a town in Minnesota adopted a town in Germany. And what did they think of that idea?

[Velma Carson]

It appealed to us. We came home and talked about it. But how to find such a town? And how could we do it? We were only 250 people. And somebody said, you have addresses out in the world. Why don't you write?

[Ben Grauer]

And they did write to an organization known as Operation Democracy. A clearinghouse, a friendship place where lonely cities can meet each other.

[Velma Carson]

We wrote a timid letter, really the first time, because we thought they might think we were too small to be of any use.

[Ben Grauer]

But in New York City, genial Leif Todd thought otherwise. Executive secretary of Operation Democracy, he recorded for us his immediate Reply.

[Leif Todd]

My dear Mrs. Carson, the countries with which we are working at the present time are France, Italy, Holland, Luxembourg, and in a few cases, Germany. Of these the need is probably greatest in Italy and France.

[Ben Grauer]

Back in Morganville, the arrival of Leif Todd's letter from Operation Democracy was like a trumpet call for assembly. Swiftly the word got around and at twilight they gathered on Velma Carson's porch with her reporter's eye. Agnes Huff, editor of the Tribune, recalls that evening.

[Velma Carson]

Well, the group there that night represented everything, every part of our community.

[Agnes Huff]

The farmer, the minister, the school superintendent, high school pupils.

[Velma Carson]

Businessmen and business women.

[Ben Grauer]

Yes, and the music teacher was there too. They were all there. And they recorded for us in their own words the story of that evening.

[Agnes Huff]

It was a lovely place for us to meet. Morganville had some nice shade trees. But along with the shade trees, dusk came and we had a wonderful crop of Kansas mosquitoes. While we talked, we worked into the discussion of what we could do to unite our town with the world. And what we could do to unite our own community too.

[Ben Grauer]

From hand to hand, they passed around Leif Todd's letter.

[Leif Todd]

In France, we would suggest two communities, both very small and located in Alsace Lorraine. The town of Solney in 1940 had a population of 340 people. Now the town of Fevre, near Metz, has a population around 300. In Holland, a tentative suggestion might be the village of Mordyke.

[Ben Grauer]

There, in the dusk on the porch, the people of Morganville, Kansas, sat and considered whom they would talk to. A half continent and an ocean away.

[Leif Todd]

My family was in favor of adopting an Italian city. We were corresponding with an Italian family.

[Agnes Huff]

And we liked this family very much. We talked quite a bit about taking a Dutch. But we decided the Dutch people had always been very frugal, had always staged a comeback, and that they could do it if any nation could.

[Lon Silver]

Fevs was my selection because some of the destruction was done by our boys. And I felt that things could be more friendly if we chose Fev's France.

[Ben Grauer]

They looked again to see what Leif Todd had said about Fev.

[Leif Todd]

It was badly damaged in 1940, and the Germans also did a thorough job of pilfering. This is a farming community, mainly cattle.

[Velma Carson]

That was us. We were cattle people. We'd know how to write that first letter of friendship of how we drove the cattle home and milked and the price of cattle. And we discussed it at great length of making a friend for life out across the the ocean. And we thought a long time and talked a long time, because we knew that when one town was chosen, the others would not be ours anymore.

[Ben Grauer]

Yes, they discussed it, debated it, prayed over it. But the hour was getting late. And finally, when the vote was counted, Morganville in Kansas discovered it had made a blind date with a town called Fevre in France. This, then was it that some one affirmative thing of which Velma Carson had spoken, they wanted to act at once, immediately.

[Velma Carson]

We intended to write letters to them, telling them all about us and how it was with us and where we were going and what we were doing and how we lived and how we sent our children to school. And what a good world it is and how we wanted to be friends.

[Ben Grauer]

But then Morganville read the notes about Fev again to people whose children were starving.

[Velma Carson]

When ours were well fed. We could hardly mention our herds when theirs were hungry for milk, when they were threatened with tb. You can't open a friendship on an equal basis when one group children have food and the others don't. And suddenly we were stricken with the necessity of offering these children part of what we had.

[Ben Grauer]

They laugh those people of Morganville, Kansas, if anyone called them statesmen. But no statesman could have gone more surely to the heart of the matter. If their sentiment was to mean anything, it must be backed up by substance shared. Such sharing would be bread upon the waters. But they needed money. The question how to raise it.

[Agnes Huff]

What do you think, Velma? It seems to me that we should do something. We should have a blowout of some kind. What do you think? So Velma Carson said, well, I think so too. So she said, what do you think we should have? I said, we have a nice little place down here that the NYA fixed for us. We call it our amphitheater. Why don't we have something down there? Oh, we should have a pageant. You can do more things with that.

[Ben Grauer]

A pageant?

[Leif Todd]

What for?

[Ben Grauer]

A small town anywhere in America is more natural than a pageant. A pageant to raise money for fed. But what kind of a pageant?

[Leif Todd]

About what?

[Ben Grauer]

Featuring whom?

[Agnes Huff]

Velma Carson's mother gave us the real inspiration of what we could use. She said, why not use the history of Morganville?

[Ben Grauer]

Ah, there was an idea, as Mrs. Young just told us in her own words. Use the story of the founder of the town, Ebenezer Morgan, who sought isolation to show his descendants discarding isolation. Bring in old Lon Silver's Indians. Take the various nationalities who have settled Morganville. The Swedes, the Swiss, the Norwegians, the Irish. Get the high school drama teacher to stage it, the music teacher to conduct the music. Call the pageant something like One World or None, and invite the whole countryside. Days, weeks go by. People scour their attics for the clothes they or their parents war to come to America, search out the dancing costumes of their children, remove the Spanish shawls from their living room pianos.

[Agnes Huff]

We started out this pageant with the idea of using the people in Morganville, intending to have about 30 people. The thing grew, and finally we wound up with 150 people. And it was a community project.

[Ben Grauer]

Community project indeed it was. As silence settled over the throng gathered for the performance. As the pageant voice intones, Mrs. Carson's narration one after another of Morganville's citizens took the center of the stage. Listen to some of their roles as they described them for us.

[Lon Silver]

I suggested that we should have a Swedish dance on the stage and I called Anton Peterson's and they went and got Swedish customs and we had the dance.

[Agnes Huff]

Mrs. Wickland carried a Swedish flag and us four came hopping along back of her and we did our Swedish dance.

[Lon Silver]

I didn't dance, I just held the flag. I represented the Swiss people, which is our nationality and we done a folk dance and of course we had our typical Swiss pipes smoking and having just a jolly good time on the stage. And we did possibly look like a real Swiss couple.

[Agnes Huff]

I was dressed in a Chinese costume. My little daughter Carol was with me. She was in a Chinese costume. Costume 2 I sang poor Butterfly in the pageant. My husband Harvey Oettinger was one of the Cossacks who helped to draw in the boat on which the Russian dancer appeared on the scene. I was chairman of the ice cream committee.

[Leif Todd]

I played the part of Buddha and people were around me worshiping.

[Lon Silver]

Four of us sang this number Children of the Heavenly Father in the Swedish language.

[Ben Grauer]

But the scene Velma Carson liked best was the closing scene.

[Velma Carson]

On the left was the classic Angela scene of the French peasants with his wife by their empty wheelbarrow. On the right we had a similar scene with Kansas actors and the Morganville wheelbarrow was filled to heaping with tomatoes and other fruits and the yellow wheat field stretched out behind while an angelus bell rang in the distance.

[Ben Grauer]

Morganville's pageant was a rousing success. $1,000 worth of success. Dan Ranney, treasurer of the pageant fund, put fountain pen to paper.

[Lon Silver]

At that time I wrote Mr. Tarlotting, the school teacher of thes what the people needed mostly. He replied that they could use rice which they had not seen since 1940, sugar for the preservation of their foods, cereals and powdered milk for the children. We got busy right away.

[Ben Grauer]

Yes, along with ploughing and milking and doing of chores, Morganville kept busy indeed for the little town in France.

[Velma Carson]

After our pageant, Velma Carson came and asked me if we could work out a ration of powdered milk for the 60 children in FEV. We worked out this ration and had the milk sent to the children in Fev.

[Agnes Huff]

We started to collect outing and old.

[Velma Carson]

Blankets and things and made over a.

[Agnes Huff]

Hundred diapers for the children there for the babies rather.

[Leif Todd]

We found out some time ago that we could ship seeds to these people.

[Lon Silver]

Quite a variety of vegetable seeds. We Organized a committee and I was.

[Leif Todd]

Appointed as chairman of the seed committee.

[Ben Grauer]

There it is in the voices of the people who did it. That's how it went with Morganville and fair friends who had never met except in letters and clothes and diapers and powdered milk. Two towns linked in a common interest yet half a world apart. Until. Until.

[Lon Silver]

The following summer, I took a farmer's friendship tour to Europe. And when we got to Nancy, France, I left mature, taken a train to Metz, where I'd taken the taxi cab to the little city of Fevs, which Morganville adopted.

[Ben Grauer]

Farmer August Coling, junketing in Europe, became the first citizen of Morganville actually to clasp hands with the newfound friends of fev.

[Lon Silver]

I offered some money when I were there, and they wouldn't take it. They didn't feel like they wanted to take the money from me at all.

[Ben Grauer]

August Coling visited a farm and finding a tractor sitting useless without tracks, he offered to help pay for the tracks.

[Lon Silver]

But this farmer says no. I have money enough to pay for these tracks, but I can't have them until the United States buys more goods from France. That's what my government says. We need more dollars here badly.

[Ben Grauer]

For August Coling, this was food for thought. He was seeing new places, yes, but he was also mulling to himself some new ideas.

[Lon Silver]

Before I left, I hadn't given much thought, but after I'd gotten over there and met the people, when I got back, I told my friends that I felt that we should buy more from France. These folks, they need help. Put them back on their feet.

[Ben Grauer]

August Coling's visit and report not only served to nourish and strengthen the affectionate link between Kansas and Lorain, it also gave the relationship economic sense and meaning. But still the towns felt the need for some exchange of symbols, some sign or representation by means of which they might picture one another. At least that was the substance of the letter of request which reached Morganville from Fevre. Now, happily, Morganville is the birthplace of a distinguished Kansas artist and teacher, Ovid Jacobsen. Mr. Jacobson recalls for us how they came to him to suggest an exhibition of his paintings in the schoolhouse and.

[Leif Todd]

Why I was asked by the committee to select the five paintings most representative of Morganville and the surrounding area. The wheat fields on the uplands, the tall cottonwoods bordering the Republican River Stillwater, where I fished and skated as a boy many years ago.

[Ben Grauer]

At 10 cents a vote, Morganville picked almost by unanimous decision, a picture of harvest time in Kansas. They sent it off, and in time, their gift was answered. Lorraine came to Kansas in grooves etched on wax in this passage from a sound recording of the pageant staged by the people of Fevre in gratitude for friendship.

[Lon Silver]

People of Morganville, your voice has been heard. And your gesture at the same time won for you the gratitude of the people of faith and showed us a.

[Leif Todd]

New aspect of your America.

[Ben Grauer]

The sound of children's voices. This, my friends, is worth a thousand treaties for this is in the spirit of him to whom we sing Hosanna at Christmas time. Of him who said, this is my commandment, that ye love one another as I have loved you. From the guiding spirit behind this prairie. Noel from Velma Carson. A final word.

[Velma Carson]

We had attempted to make ourselves equal by sharing. And then we were ready to come back to the old friendship of ideas. And we were now ready to begin that friendship. We thought of that July night on the front porch.

[Ben Grauer]

Again, your field reporter, Elmore McKee.

[Leif Todd]

Thank you, Ben Grauer. Friends, democracy, this story teaches us, is far more than the mouthing of high flown phrases. It is a design for friendly living for people and nations both. It is believing in it. It is the personally acting out of it. From the lips of the Reverend Joe Buckles of Morganville, we bring you these significant words. I think most of us feel here that we've not only made a contribution to fevs, but in a very real way FEVS has made a contribution to us.

[Ben Grauer]

That same spirit of mutual tolerance and respect, so well spoken by the pastor of Morganville, Kansas, carries a lesson for every one of us Americans and for our country as a whole. For a comment on this phase of our story, I'm going to turn to some of the studies of one of America's leading research foundations, the 20th Century Fund, which is cooperating with NBC in producing these programs. And I'm going to call upon a representative of the fund, Dr. Percy W. Bidwell, who is Director of Studies for the Council on Foreign Relations and a member of the 20th Century Fund's committee on Foreign Economic Relations.

[Leif Todd]

All of us, I'm sure Mr. Grauer, feel a warm glow as we hear this story of a town in Kansas and a town in France. As I listened, I thought how wonderful it would be if all the people in the world could be linked up by payers of communities like Fevre and Morganville. That, of course, isn't practicable. Job of organization would be too stupendous. But a great deal can be done along this line. Without any organization. All the world in a way, is knit together by the processes of world Trade the day by day operations of businessmen, American, French, British, Indian importers and exporters can make possible the exchange of goods between Morganville and Fevre as well as between New York and Paris. The only hitch is that governments seem always to be putting obstacles, tariffs, quotas and the like in the way of this trade.

[Ben Grauer]

I like to think of the cotton, tobacco, wheat and other products of our American farms and typewriters, automobiles, farm machinery and all the other products of American industry being sold to people all over the earth. I like to think, especially at Christmas, that all of these American products may be making life easier in many places where it's been pretty rugged lately.

[Leif Todd]

Yes, and don't forget that exports help American business too. So often we don't stop to think, how are these people abroad going to pay for the products we like to sell to them?

[Ben Grauer]

You mean, Dr. Bidwell, how are they going to get the dollars to buy our goods?

[Leif Todd]

That's right. The Morganville people gave their goods to the people of Fev. That can't go on forever. I'm talking about putting this on a business basis.

[Ben Grauer]

Well, just what is the dollar problem? It seems strange to me that if a man has some perfectly good French money, Franks, let's say he still can't buy American goods because he hasn't got dollars.

[Leif Todd]

Well, the trouble is the American sellers want to be paid in American money, in dollars. General Motors can't pay its workers in French francs. And if we in this country haven't bought French goods and paid for them in dollars, there just aren't enough dollars available in France for Frenchmen to buy American automobiles, typewriters, sewing machines and a lot of other things.

[Ben Grauer]

Wasn't that what farmer Coling of Morganville, Kansas was talking about a few moments ago? You remember what he said?

[Lon Silver]

But this farmer says, no, I have money enough to pay for these tracts, but I can't have them until the United States buys more goods from France. That's what my government says. We need more dollars here badly.

[Leif Todd]

He put it in a nutshell. We can't sell abroad unless foreigners have dollars. And the only way they can get dollars is by selling some of their products to us.

[Ben Grauer]

Well, wasn't that just what Mr. Kohling, a good American from Kansas, found out when he went overseas?

[Lon Silver]

You recall, he said, when I got back, I told my friends that I felt that we should buy more from France.

[Leif Todd]

Mr. Calling hit the nail on the head. And don't forget this. The very fact that his going to France, his traveling abroad was an excellent way of helping to promote trade between that country and our own.

[Ben Grauer]

Could we have that again?

[Leif Todd]

Well, when Americans travel abroad, they not only have the pleasure of travel, broadening their own horizons, but the dollars they spend usually come flying right back to this country to buy American goods. One of the most pleasant ways in which we can promote world trade is to promote world travel, especially by Americans.

[Ben Grauer]

Dr. Bidwell, do you think that just now is a good time for us Americans to increase our imports, the goods we buy from other countries?

[Leif Todd]

Best possible time, Mr. Grauer. Remember, we are just starting a huge new rearmament and defense program that's going to place a heavy strain on our economic system. We're going to have trouble producing the vast quantities of things we need for both military and civilian purposes. The more of these goods we can get from abroad, the more we can ease the strain on our own economic system.

[Ben Grauer]

Imports help to keep down inflation, isn't that right?

[Leif Todd]

That's right. The official report of our 20th Century Fund Committee on Foreign Economic Relations put it this. An increase in imports under present conditions would provide our consumers with goods which they urgently need, goods which would otherwise remain scarce. It would help, therefore, to counteract inflation and to hold down the rise in living costs.

[Ben Grauer]

Thank you, Dr. Bidwell, for giving us some of the national and international implications. Our story.

[Elmore McKee]

Living 1950, in conjunction with the 20th Century Fund, has presented another in our special series, the People Act. If you wish to receive a copy of today's script or to ask questions pertaining to the possible application of the Morganville story to your own community, you are invited to write to the 20th Century Fund, 330 W 42nd St, NY 18. We repeat that address, the 20th Century Fund, 330 West 42nd St, NY, 18. The fun will be glad to send you a script or put you in touch with an agency that may help you in your situation. Join us next week for a story from the Bluegrass State of Kentucky, which we call the sun shines bright. Living 1950 is produced under the supervision of Wade Arnold. Today's program was transcribed. Script was by Lou Hasm and Wade Arnold. Your narrator, Ben Grauer. Recording engineer, William Swartow. This series is directed by Edwin Dunham.

[Ben Grauer]

Hear Dangerous Assignment and the Man Called X. Later on NBC.