Evening star., 1942-07-13
Impending Disaster


the economic disaster of wartime
imitation, begun with such a fanfare
of oratory little less than three
months ago, is now on the verge of
total collapse. Unless there is dras-
tic eleventh-hour change of heart,
and this seems most unlikely, we
must expect in the near future to
begin paying the heavy price of this
failure-a failure which will be all
the more distressing because it re-
suits not from lack of understanding
of the problem, but from an apparent
inability to take the precautionary
measures which are so obviously in
dicated.
In a public statement Saturday,
Price Administrator Leon Henderson,
making a final stand in defense of
his program, told the country in
plain language that the maximum
price regulations will have to be re-
pealed If the appropriation bill for
his Office becomes law in the form
approved by the Senate Appropria-
tions Committee. That was not an
exaggerated statement. While ap-
proving an appropriation for the
Office of Price Administration which
is $45, 100000 greater than that al
lowed by the House, the Senate Com
mittee wrote restrictions into the bill
which, If finally approved, would
force the OPA to close up shop The
most harmful restriction is that
which has the effect of requiring OPA
to obtain the advance approval of
the Secretary of Agriculture for any
price ceiling on processed or finished
agricultural products.
This proviso, said by Mr.. Hender-
son to have been written by the
American Farm Bureau Federation,
is plainly intended to permit the
prices of farm commodities to rise to
ITO per cent of parity. If it becomes
law it would put Congress on record
as seeking to exempt the farmers
from the economic sacrifices which
the rest of the Nation is expected to
make. But it would not have that
intended effect, because, in Destroy
ing the whole effort to control living
costs, Congress would open the door
to an inf1ationary disaster which
eventually would engulf the farmers
along with the rest of the people.
1t is a mistake, however, for Mr..
Henderson to attribute the impend-
ing collapse of his program exclu-
sively to the attitude of Congress.
The real explanation goes deeper
than that. If this latest congress
sional attempt to insure favored
treatment for farmers can wreck the
effort to control living costs, the
same thing may be said of the un-
checked drive for general wage ad-
vances. But this latter responsible
ity rests with the President, because
he, preferring to handle this phase
of the program in his own way, has
prevented Congress from stabilizing
wages by law. But wages, under the
Presidents supervision, have not
been stabilized. On the contrary
| the trend is ever upward, and the
congressional farm bloc has made it
clear that, in any event, it will not
tolerate restraints on farmers which
are not applied with equal force to
| labor.
While these two powerful pressure
groups, each denouncing the other
maneuver for favored position, thou
sands upon thousands of small busi-
nessmen are being forced to the wall
for there are neither higher wages
nor parity programs for them
Throughout the country the pinch
of declining commodity stocks is be-
ginning to be felt by the unorganizec
consumers, and if this is to be sharp
ened by mounting prices their plight
will become acute. But no dominant
voice in the legislative or admins
trative branches of the Government
is pleading their case, for the great
majority of the people are unorgan.
lied and therefore inarticulate.
Yet it is the majority of the people
the rank and fle-Who will suffel
most if the rising tide of imitation i!
not turned back. If the force O.
public opinion can be mustered il
time, it should be possible to secur,
the taking of the obvious and essen.
tial measures against imitation. Bu
the great question is whether thi
will be done before disaster has over
Whelmed us.
New Concept of Freedom
Tho cricic in uyIiol, tho h,,, ,or;oo