The people's voice. [volume] (Helena, Mont.) 1939-1969, 1942-04-24
A Tough Nut to Crack

time find the Office Of Price Admnistra
ton freezing prices this that commodity and lately there
have been quite definite limitations that consideration being
seriously given the freezing of all retail prices These
gestons price freezing usually been coupled with
proposals freezing and less and
gentle hints that profit freezing might also be part OF the
general plan.
dynamite that price fixing carries for the
continuance of the profit system and the right to exploit
which the business mans idea of what
constitutes the american way of life
Without going into discussion of the effect that general
wage price and profit freezing would have on our
economic SYSTEM let us look without prejudice on how arbitrary
freezing of and retail prices at present levels would
work out.
The average common laborer in most of Montana
gets top of rs cents hour when he has job He
may be digging ditch for water line working just ahead of
plumber who is paid So hour has been observed that
neither laborer the plumber to
become possessed of capital that generally speak
ing they just get along though the plumber when
working fairly steadily is able to live comfortably and
with worry than the aborer
been advance in living costs during the past
year per This has, doubt been felt keeny
by the aborer less by the plumber Now uppos
ing that these frozen simultaneously with retail
prices the present levels The aborer then faces
period of continued hardship trying to stretch his income
to meet the living requirements of himself and family some
thing that he cannot do adequately now.
The plumber will fare pretty well perhaps, if the prior
regulations permit plumbing Then too the
laborer may that he had better become plumber
perhaps order to be able to make living Or is the COM
frozen in his job and the plumber in his?
After ALL the laborer happens to have worked
around plumbing operations for time, he might make
pretty fair stab at pumbng will have good idea how start
and how to finish ordinary job OF plumbing.
Then the retailer perhaps has not been making anything
reasonably good living the prices charged for
commodities that he has been selling He would continue
get by perhaps his rent wasn't raised if he didn't have
pay his coal to heat his place of business and if
buy freely sell the goods he has been
selling But what if he has to rent and more
other overhead climb without hndrance
There another job of price fixing to be considered
This be carried and will have to be carried on
the retailer back the obber The obber will have sim
liar problems will the manufacturer The producer of the
materials will also have his problems imposed by price
fixing but probably equal attention will not be paid to them
AS foodsus concerned the farmer will notice the
difficulty least perhaps because he isn't used to getting for his
what cost him to produce them in most So
him, unless he inclined to be analytical it will be just
"hard times"
What about freezing industrial profits? 1t will be
that couple of weeks Donald Nelson stated that
stringent limitations profits might and probably would have
tendency delay production. So that question
to have already been answered by high authority.
An agency headed by McNutt, for the mobilization of
already been established but
have been made yet for the mobilization of machine
ndustryp under the control of agency
However few things political economic long remain
One step quite often compes another and since the
purpose all this present freezing of in
fation broadening of the price fixing program inevitable
if this end is to be attained
We suspect that Office Price Administration gets
when it looks down the road to where it leads
And so, doubt do the fat boys.