The Hardin tribune-herald. [volume] (Hardin, Mont.) 1925-1973, 1942-12-17
WNU Service, 1343 H Street, NV,
Washington, d. c.

VIM service, lS4S II StTect, N.",
Washington, d. C..
The war may cost Mr.. John Q.
Taxpayer an extra seventy-five bill
lion dollars-$75, 900, 0S0 900 written
that way it looks more like what it
really isl If it does, it will mean
that this country will go through a
depression that will make the black
'3Os look like a June day.
That is the warning sounded by
the Office of War Information.
All we have to do to realize this
is to look back to the period OF the
last war, when the cost of living
rose So per cent between 1914 and
Armistice day, l9l8-and kept right
on going up for nearly two years.
Those were the days of 67-cent but
ter and 92-cents-a-doZen eggs. Then
came the crash. Hundreds Of thou
sands Of farmers lost their lands.
Five million workers lost their jobs.
The cost of the war was partly to
blame, of course. When other
prices went up, the w%ar-cost in
creased by 1872 billions. On hal
basis. it is estimated that if prices
run away now. it will mean a IS
billion dollar rise in the war debt.
This time. of course, the govern
ment has tried to put on the brakes,
but the brakes are already smok-
ing. The seven keys to economic
security"-the checks on the cost of
living r all right, but they won't
hold the load unless the public takes
certain voluntary precautions. If it
doesn't, stricter regulation must
come. Some are bound to come
anyhow.
Let's look at those seven keys and
e if they are really locking the
door against imitation.
The first is tax heavily"-keep
personal and corporate profits at a
reasonable rate. Well, you have to
define reasonable" Profits, wages
and salaries are high. The current
tax law, although it is better than
expected by many persons. does not
do the job, according to fiscal ex-
perts in Washington.
The next "key" is the price CELL
ings.
According to Price Administrator
Henderson, the cost of price-con-
trolled foods fell seven-tenths Of l
per cent in the two months after
May. 1912, while uncontrolled foods
went up 7.3 per cent. Now all prices
are Stabilized" but last month in
order to assure maximum food pro-
duction. the ceiling on farm wages
was raised and a bloc in congress
began agitating for a rise in the CELL
ing on farm prices. Certain civilian
manufactured goods are caught be-
tween the ceiling and the cost of
raw materials and may burst the
bounds. too.
Wage Standardization
The next brake on imitation is sta
bilization Of wages. That was
achieved by the freezing of wages,
but allowances had to be made for
the people not getting a living wage.
Then the labor shortage in war in
dustries made it necessary to call
upon women to fill the gap, and
women had to get the same pay for
the same work. which seems fair
enough. That put more money into
pocketbooks-and. Of course. put
more people on payrolls.
Another sterilization move was
rationing certain commodities.
That, Of course, is effective as far as
it goes, but it covers a limited field.
Then there were the voluntary
measures-which haven't worked so
well and which provide the real
outlet for the possible boost in all
costs in spite of the artificial checks.
Citizens were urged to buy war
bonds, to save their money instead
of buying things they didn't need, to
pay off their old debts and refrain
from making new ones
So far voluntary methods have not
been successful. There is a limit to
which a democratic country can go
in regulating the lives of the people.
1t was hard enough to get the ma
tionwide gasoline rationing through,
but finally it was accepted. Perhaps
when the public understands" it
will be willing to save instead of
spend. but financial experts in and
out Of the government predict that
compulsory savings is the next key
on the list.
Recently l talked with a hard
headed official. He does not direct
the fiscal policy of the government.
but he is indirectly concerned with
national finance. He picked up a
chart on his desk. This Is not