Evening star., 1941-11-11
the economic requirements Of the
situation as a reason for the omis-
sion.
Meaningless Statistics.

the economic requirements Of the
situation as a reason for the omis-
sion.
Meaningless Statistics.
Statistics have been cited to prove
that the price increases we have had
to date were not caused by wage
Increases and that future price rises
will not be caused by wage increases.
Such statistics are meaningless. A
man may be able to absorb higher
rent but not higher wage, or he
may be able to absorb both the
rent and wage and not the higher
cost of materials The immediate
cause of his raising his price may
be one thing, but obviously all the
elements that go into his costs con-
tribute.
Simply showing that wages lag
behind price rises isn't conclusive of
anything, except that workers never
fail to lose out in the inflationary
race.
All of us know that wages may
start an inflationary spiral, just as
higher profits or higher farm prices
or higher commodity prices may
| Let us enact an overall ceiling and
then we give no one an excuse for
! jacking prices up. 1t might be said
that a price-control system is as
strong as its weakest excuse.
The substitute bill is offered as
no cure-all for labor troubles nor
as any guarantee against strikes.
1t is offered, however, with the hope
and for the purpose Of preserving
the workers real wage. A workers
real wage Is more truly dependent
| upon what he can purchase with
his wage than 1t is upon the numeri-
cal amount of his wage. All OF us
know that unless rising prices are
halted, workers real wages will not
be as much three months from now
as they are today The substitute
bill will certainly do more to pro-
mote labor peace and the welfare
of the wage Garner than will a weak
kneed, ineffective bill which will
not stop and cannot stop the rising
cost of living.
For all practical purposes the
committee bill exempts agriculture
from the imposition of ceilings, at
least until imitation would be upon
us. This was a natural consequence
OF the other political exemptions in
the bill.
Brings Day of Reckoning.
For the farmer, imitation is like
intoxication. exhilarating in Its de-
velopment but fraught with head
ache and heartbreak in its recession.
More than any people on earth,
the farmer has suffered from the
cycle of imitation and depression.
1t is vitality to his benefit from the
long-range point of view that inf1a-
ton be prevented Surely, the
American farmer, who has suffered
so much and so recently. would
prefer a bill which would prevent
imitation. When the crash comes,
and it follows initiation as surely
as night follows day, the farmer gets
his first-and hardest.
Uncontrolled initiation is economic
high blood pressure of the worst
sort, which will eventually cause
the collapse of the entire system.
If We have a runaway imitation,
which I regard as inevitable unless
drastic controls are instituted. this
Nations price structure will be
raised to much higher level than
presently.
The level of a price structure,
whether high or low, is not the
factor by which We can measure
its beneficial usefulness for the
people The usefulness and fair
ness of a price structure is meas
ured by the balanced relationship
and stability existing between all
economic segments and by the