Ezra Taft Benson called newsmen to his office one afternoon last week, happily shook hands all around, then leaned back in his leather chair and made an announcement: on Aug. 1 the Department of Agriculture will commence selling its 7,000,000-odd bales of surplus cotton at competitive world prices.
Secretary Benson had cause to smile; the decision meant victory for the department in a long, drawn-out discussion with the State Department. Benson is eager to export Commodity Credit Corp. cotton at attractive prices and has felt prods from similarly inclined cotton growers and Congressmen. The State Department, sensitive to pleas from...