NEW YORK—Discussion in the United States Senate on the reciprocal trade agreements has been put off till a later date. President Eisenhower is trying to get these pacts extended.

The House voted for a five-year extension, with authority for the President to cut tariffs up to an additional 25 percent. The Senate Finance Committee, however, wants to extend these agreements for only three years and allow a 15 percent overall cut.

The Administration strongly opposes an amendment proposed by Senator Robert S. Kerr of Oklahoma. This amendment would end the power of the President to overrule recommendations by the Tariff Commission. Presidents have often used this prerogative, which was tantamount to denying relief to a domestic industry that claimed damage from imports.

The reason for such action is easy to see. Any President and any administration cannot look alone at what happens in this country. It must weigh the overall benefits to be derived from giving some advantage to a foreign industry, particularly if the harm done in the United States covers only a small area of our economy.

If you are the leader of a non-Communist world, it is part of your responsibility to know and understand the problems of the rest of the world and to manage your own economy so that where it is essential you can offer compensation and retraining for changes needed in a local area.

The word "manage" strikes terror in the breasts of the old-time free enterprise capitalists. But you are competing with a managed economy planned to serve political world ambitions. You cannot, therefore, refuse to recognize the need for new economic weapons at home.

Five years is the minimum that should be voted as an extension period, since other countries find it hard to make their plans cover a shorter period of time.

There are many other reasons why this bill should be voted, and voted quickly. But for most of us it is enough to understand the purposes and to know that what we have done since the inception of these agreements has been beneficial to us to many countries in the world.

Two books have just been sent me.

One is called "Cooks and Capitols" and is dedicated to two of Kansas' prominent citizens—the President of the United States and the governor of Kansas. Mrs. Alyce Nemer obtained recipes largely from the governors and their wives throughout the United States, regardless of their affiliations. The recipes sound good, and in the booklet there is a considerable amount of information which is interesting reading.

The second book is for young children, with delightful drawings, and is called "Scat, the Witches' Cat." The children may be somewhat frightened, but they will nevertheless be fascinated.