FREE TRADE program, inspired by the Randall report, is already running into trouble in Congress. Protectionist Congressmen show so little desire to go along with the Administration's program that Ike may end up with only a one-year "as is" extension of present Reciprocal Trade law.

ATLAS CORP. is adding uranium to its interests. President Floyd B. Odium has bought a large group of mining claims owned by Prospector Charles A. Steen (TIME, Aug. 3) on the rich Colorado Plateau near Moab, Utah. The claims will be worked by the Lisbon Uranium Mining Corp., 60% of which has just been bought by three Odium subsidiaries in a stock and cash deal.

JOBLESS STATISTICS will be coordinated in a single monthly Government report, beginning this month, to end the confusion in conflicting figures of Government agencies (TIME, March 15). Report will include all three unemployment indicators: the Census Bureau count of the total U.S. labor force, the Labor Department's figures on nonfarm employment, and the states' statistics on unemployment compensation. It will also have an overall analysis of the situation.

ROYAL TYPEWRITER CO., one of the world's biggest writing-machine makers (1953 sales: $69 million), is working on a deal to get into the adding-machine business. Royal wants to merge with Ohio's $7,300,000 McBee Co., manufacturer of accounting and statistical machines, plans to form a new company called the Royal-McBee Corp. Present McBee stockholders will get 7/8 of a share in the new company, Royal stockholders one full share, for each share they now own in the two firms.

LIGNITE, a poor-heating cousin to coal, will get its first big U.S. industrial test as a cheaper substitute for water power and natural gas in generating electricity. Alcoa has just opened a $100 million aluminum smelting plant (capacity: 90,000 tons annually) near Austin, Texas, which will experiment with lignite from the state's abundant supplies as an exclusive source of power.

MONSANTO CHEMICAL is going into business with German chemists to make a new plastic substitute for foam rubber. With Germany's Farbenfabriken Bayer A.G., Monsanto will build a plant in the U.S., turn out the new chemicals (isocyanates) to make foam plastics for mattresses and upholstery.

MILK PRODUCTION is soaring despite the cut in price supports April 1, and the Government faces increased purchases and a far greater surplus this year than last. First-quarter production totaled 28.9 billion Ibs. of milk, 1.2 billion over 1953 levels and some 3 billion Ibs. more than the ten-year average.

AUTOMAKERS' campaign to stop dealers from bootlegging new cars at wholesale prices has fallen flat. General Motors, which planned to buy back unsold 1954 cars to prevent their being dumped on the used-car market, has dropped the idea. The Justice Department warned that it might violate antitrust laws.

MERGER of three big California banks is being completed to form the 16th biggest U.S. bank (assets: $1.4 billion). Three-way deal is between Los Angeles' California Bank, San Francisco's Crocker First National Bank and Bank of California, which are joining forces to compete better against the giant Bank of America.

PLYWOOD INDUSTRY is coming out of its slump. Though prices are still low, Northwest lumbermen last week sold 113 million board feet of fir plywood, second biggest weekly total in history, have operated at peak production for four weeks.

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