The Kennewick courier-reporter. [volume] (Kennewick, Wash.) 1939-1949, 1942-07-23
ECONOMIC HIGHurGHTS

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Some of the most thoughtful
Washington observers have beer
much troubled lately by the powel
and aggressiveness displayed by Ger.
tain pressure groups which are hare
at work grinding their axes in the
capital. Theoretically, the natior
is now unified, with all citizens de.
termined to do their utmost to helr
win the war. In actuality, a gooo
many citizens seem more concerned
with how they can use the war te
serve their own ends, and how they
can avoid as much personal sacrifice
and Inconvenience as possible.
Labor in a number of basic in
dustries is demanding substantial
wage increases, despite the obvious
fact that higher pay for workers
must result in higher costs and
higher prices all along the line
thus putting into effect an initiation
airy spiral that in the long run would
hit labor as hard and perhaps hard
er than any other group.
r. The heads of some of the big farm
organizations, despite their patriotic
speeches, are fighting tooth and nail
for more and bigger subsidies-and
they are implacably resisting any
and all attempts to place workable
ceilings on farm prices. If these
groups win out-and they have ire
mlendous Influence in a Congress
which is largely made up of men
from agricultural areas-still anoth-
er inflationary spiral will be well
underway.
Incidents have been unearthed
where certain business interests put
their own wishes ahead of the needs
of the nation. However, it is gen.
orally true that the record of indus
try in this war has been excellent.
Furthermore, industry of all kinds is
regulated and controlled to the Ililt
by the government-w is not
true Of either labor or agriculture.
Taxpayer groups are also extreme
ly active in Washington, and all of
them, with a few honorable excep-
tions, seem to he trying to figure out
ways and means to make the other
fellow pay for the war. They are all
for sacrifice long as someone
else does the bulk of the sacrificing.
The blacklist picture of all, in the
view of many writer's, is found on
Capitol HILL itself. Next November,
all of the members of the House and
a third of the members of the Senate
win be up for reelection There are,
of course, congressman who are not
swayed by political considerations
who are doing their best, and who
refuse to play old-fashioned poll
tics-as-usual in attempts to make
certain of holding their jobs. Un-
fortunately for the nation, there are
a good many congressman, in both
parties, who seem to be thinking al
uAAOSo SnS1uS0SSiy III tC1aiiS VI VOGcS. 4
They don't want to step on the toes
of their constituents. They don't
want to vote for bills which will
make their constituents have to go
without things. They are, in short,
seeking to please all groups and all
interests that means that they
are doing their best to either dodge
difficult issues, or to straddle the
fence. - -.>. ~,~.-. .--7>.a...- -7a.zcs5s
Some of the election campaigns
now taking place are, in the view of
men who grasp the world situation,
almost literally sickening. Political
job-seekers are flagrantly pandering
to special interests-to labor, agri-
culture, pension seekers, etc. They
treat the war as "a sort of side
shown the face of the obvious
fact that we and our ALLIES have as
yet not taken single inch of con-
quered territory, and the Axis is
making tremendous progress on the
most vital battlefronts. Every auth
GRITTY is convinced that if we lose