COTTON-CROP SUPPORTS will drop below 90% of parity next year (probably to 80%) for the first time in 13 years. With an 8,000,000-bale store already in Government hands and a bumper 14,663,000-bale crop moving into the glutted market, farmers voted 13-to-1 for 1956 crop quotas to make the best of a poor bargain.

G.M.'S AEROTRAIN will be delivered to the New York Central and Pennsylvania railroads early next month. Both railroads will make exhibition runs of the low-slung, lightweight, 100-m.p.h. Aerotrains for three weeks, then return them to G.M. for tune-ups. On May 1 the 400-passenger, $600,000 trains will go into service.

HENRY KAISER will borrow $95 million from private banks to retire all outstanding debts of Willys and Kaiser Motors Corp. (including $13.3 million owed the Government). To do so, Kaiser will bring his automaking, construction, steel, cement, aluminum and home-building companies under one giant company to be known as Kaiser Industries Corp.

LIFE INSURANCE CENSUS, first in industry history, has been completed by the University of Michigan Survey Research Center. Findings: 115 million Americans (seven out of ten) own life insurance.

MISSILE BLOWUP between scientists and aeronautical engineers at Lockheed has brought the resignation of Physicist Dr. Ernst H. Krause, missiles research laboratories director, and a score of other top scientists. Lieut. General (ret.) Elwood R. Quesada quit as vice president for missiles six weeks ago. To replace Krause, Lockheed promoted topflight Physicist Louis Ridenour, promised to keep its $32 million missile program going without interruption.

UNION'S RIGHT to inspect an employer's books will be decided for the first time by the U.S. Supreme Court. A Federal Appeals Court overturned a National Labor Relations Board ruling that a Greensboro, N.C. steelmaker must open his books to a bargaining committee, and NLRB is appealing.

BRITAIN-CHINA TRADE in strategic goods will be resumed if the Eden government can find a diplomatic way to withdraw from the Allied committee that enforces the embargoes. It argues that the Korean war-imposed embargoes applied to Red China only, thus is not stopping strategic goods, because China can have Russia purchase them for her.

FIRST SYNTHETIC RUBBER plant to be privately financed since the war will be built by El Paso Natural Gas Co. (TIME, Dec. 5) and General Tire & Rubber Co. In its first venture into the chemical industry, El Paso will feed natural gasoline, butane and propane into a $30 million plant at Odessa, Texas, and General Tire will convert the materials into synthetic rubber.

FREIGHT-RATE INCREASE is in the offing. A presidential fact-finding committee has recommended a 16 1/2-c- hourly package increase for 750,000 nonoperating employees (their present average hourly pay: $1.78). To offset rising wage and material costs, U.S. railroads will ask the Interstate Commerce Commission to okay a 7% freight-rate boost.

SMALL LOANS will be stepped up by the Export-Import Bank. To. help U.S. businessmen sell U.S. goods abroad, the bank will lend as little as $5,000 if the exporter has a customer who cannot arrange for private bank financing.

DIXON-YATES POWER GROUP has gone to court to collect $3,534,778 from the Government for out-of-pocket expenses in connection with its contract to build $107 million power plant for the Atomic Energy Commission.

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