Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1940-09-02


countered-an economic beating
Having spent billions of dollars in
pump printing and having thus
Slapped the financial reserves OF the
Nation, the present regime in WASH
ington is now confronted with the
necessity of keeping the budget in
definitely unbalanced in order to
spend billions more for defense.
This inevitably means higher and
higher costs of living without cor
responding or commensurate IN
creases in wages.
For one thing, as the national
defense program gets under way,
1t will be unpopular for labor unions
to engage In strikes and hence, in
many instances, wages will be
frozen" even as living costs soar.
But this alone would not be discour-
aging were it not for the operations
of military CONSUMPTION, which, de-
spite all that is claimed by its pro-
ponents, will break down many a
family income and deprive many a
wage Garner Of his job.
Shortage in Skilled Trades.
In the skilled trades, where there
will soon be shortage of labor, the
tendency will be to put more and
more plants under Government OPP
Grafton in order to keep wages down
and at the same time to lengthen
hours of work. None of these
changes would normally work hard
ships for labor if the free enter
prise system were permitted to func-
ton without use of governmental
coercion or restriction. The intro
duction of military CONSUMPTION as
passed by the Senate is the first
for it will not be used just to raise
an army-it will be used to develop
q system of Government-owned mil
itary plants with workers drafted
into the Government service, where
they cannot strike and where labor
unions can be of little avail to
them.
The present administration be-
heves in Government ownership of
public utilities and of as many other
businesses as it can acquire for pub
lie operation purposes. The left
wingers' in Washington look upon
the war emergency as an ideal OPP
portunity for them to put over ideas
which have been baked thus far
because in normal times the Amer
lean people would not sanction
them. Now, however, under the
guise of emergency the administra-
ton is discovering convenient
means Of achieving its radical OBJ
tectives. The Russell Overton
amendment, which was adopted by
overwhelming vote in the Senate
the other day at the behest of the
Roosevelt administrations leaders,
is a means of introducing complete
Government control of industry,
and of course there can be no such
control without taking possession
of labor as we'll and forcing it to
accept governmental terms and con-
ditions.
The fact that several Republicans
and many normally conservative
Democrats voted for the Russell
Overton amendment is explained
partly by the fact that it was be-
lieved the amendment would be
dropped in conference with the
House and there was no desire to
delay passage of the CONSUMPTION
measure itself and partly to the
belief that it might prove politically
damaging to vote against the pro-
posal.
Trend to RECOMMENDATION.
Wendell Willkie courageously de-
parted from his own party followers
and from the timid courses usually
pursued by politicians and de-
nounced the amendment as I'M
friendly to both management and
labor. He is rare example of in
dependence of political chicanery in
q public man.
The truth is the drift in Wash
ington, despite outward professions
of friendship for labor, is toward
RECOMMENDATION of labor and the
breakdown of the private economic
system. The middle class in Amer
ica-those persons who earn be-
tween $40 and $50 per WEEKS in
grave danger of being ground be-
tween the upper and neither mill
stones of war emergency and a
governmental control of industry.
The New Deal is revealing its trend
toward totalitarian government
while the Republican nominee is
insisting that it isn't necessary to
adopt totaitarianism to beat that