The Waterbury Democrat., 1942-01-06

In spite of all the confusion over this measure, dating from last Aug ust, the price administrators are still hopeful the law will have at least tooth or two in it which will meet and enable them to bite into price control maximums effec- lively, thus keeping the country from going on an imitation binge that will shoot the cost of the war higher than the longest range anti aircraft gun can reach.
 PLAN TO
 GAP BRIDGES
 The job of the enforcement boys is to have the litigation manuals and the interpretation of price schedules all ready so there will be no gap in securing compliance to price schedules between the time the present price ceiling orders cease to be the last word on the subject and the time the new law goes into ef- feet. The law will probably provide for application in this interim of old price ceilings, but it is likely all , these orders will be reissuei in such form as to put them in line with whatever the new law calls for, and so make everything according to Hoylc.
 ! In spite of the fact the present price admin.Strat ton now functions largely on the basis of Presidential orders, and although there has been no direct legislative action to back up Administrator Leon Henderson, l the record of the country in con- | plying with the 60-Odd price ceiling orders is really good. It speaks Won- derfully we'll for the behavior of the country and the willingness of the merchants and manufacturers wholesalers and retailers, brokers and commission men and salesmen to comply with orders which have cost them money by cutting into their potential profits.
 1 Only real power which the price administration has to enforce it's ceiling orders has been the weapon of making public information on cases of compliance. This Wea- ! pon has been used only 19 times. And in only three of these cases has it been necessary to mention the of l fender by name and address as frequent and persistent violators" ! of OPA price schedule maXimums. All 19 of the cases had to do with junkmen, scrap metal and waste paper dealers.
 SQUEAL
 ON HEELS
 Of the Is cases where no names were mentioned - II iron and steel ! scrap dealers, three wastepaper I dealers one nickel and one copper scrap dealer-the publicity given the case has been merely to announce the violator of the price schedule had agreed to make refunds to cus- toners of all amounts collected in excess of the maximum prices set by OPA. This restitution of ill-gotten gains and war profits also speaks well for the integrity of the country and the effectiveness of the OPA methods thus far It does not mean there has been no bootlegging of strategic materials and plenty of profiteering and collision between buyers and sellers which the OPA 1 hasn't learned about. But the tend- ency of everyone is to squeal when he gets stuck and to tell tales on the chiselerS.
 Information on the bad acting Of the Public Heels No. l comes into OPA from many sources, and just
 as in the F'BI, the informers are protected. Patriotism prompts the
 reporting of non-c compliance to price ceiling schedules and public opinion is enough to carry on from there
 Every complaint is investigated by
 OPA field men, evidence is carefully weighed before publicity of any kind
 is given to noncompliance and
 every effort is made to secure re-
 funds before Uncle Sam's long fin
 ger of public contempt is put on the
 offenders.
 Responsibility for this program of
 compliance has been placed with the
 enforcement section of OPA's legal
 division. Associate General Counsel
 Brunson MacChesney, son of Gen.
 eral Nathan MacChesney of Chicago
 is the chief enforcer. After absorb
 ing college at Yale and Michigan
 government at Harvard and law at
 University of California, MacChes-
 ney did hitches in tne Navy, was
 secretary to Commissioner Landis of
 the SEC, worked in the anti trust
 division of the Department of Jus
 tice and taught law at Northwestern 1 Now he's getting ready for P-day.