Evening star., 1943-08-16
Living Cost Decline
To Sept, AZ, Level
Forecast by Bow|es

Wy OUWICS
Chester Bowles, Once of Price
Administration general manager,
today expressed confidence that the
cost Of living soon will be pushed
back to the level of September,
1912. At the same time he said "it
very definitely Is not our job to
control profits of business.
AS first step in his avowed policy
to get along with business, Mr..
Bowles announced the appointment
of James F. Brownlee, former Cen
eral Foods Corp. official and former
president OF Frankfort Distillers,
Inc, as deputy OPA administrator
in charge Of pricing.
While. three professors have been
removed from price-fixing jobs in
the OPA here as result Of the
congressional amendment requiring
business experience of top price ofii-
cials, Mr.. Bowles said they were be-
ing retained in advisory capacities.
The only other OPA oficials to lose
their jobs as a result of the amend
ment are the district directors in
Charleston, w. Va, and Peoria, Ill.
Brownlee Succeeds Wallace.
Mr.. Brownlee succeeds Donald H.
Wallace, former Williams College
professor, who has been acting head
of the price section since the resig-
nation two months ago of J. K.
Galbraith.
Mr.. Wallace was given the job as
economic adviser to Mr. Brownlee
The other two officials who were
displaced are r. B. Hefiebower, for
merly dean of the college of COM
merce at Washington State Univer-
sity, who headed the food price
division, and Clair Wilcox, former
Swarthmore College professor, who
headed the industrial material price
division. Both Mr. Heflebower and
Mr.. Wilcox will be retained as ad-
visers.
Mr. Bowles said he had not COM
pleted the task OF filling the
vacancies in OPA's price division,
but that he had competent business
men lined up for the jobs.
May Combine Branches.
The general manager said a plan
to combine the price and rationing
functions of OPA was being studied
and may be put into effect. This
merger, he added, would make it
much simpler for businessmen since
they would only have to deal with
one department for both their price
and rationing problems.
In predicting living costs soon will
be rolled back to levels of last Sep
tember, Mr.. Bowles pointed out that
costs now had shown a decline for
two successive months. He said he
expected this decline to continue in
August. Prices now, he said, are
only about 3 per cent above last
September.
Mr.. Bowles said the new price
stabilization plan to which Presi-
dent Roosevelt referred in a recent
radio talk was pretty well SET" as
far as OPA Is concerned. He added
that the agency is working on the
plan with the War Foods Admins
tration and with Economic Stahili-
zation Director Vinson and War
Mobilization Director Byrnes.
Coal May Be Rationed.
The official was asked If he
thought OPA should control profits
in its job of holding down living
costs.
1T very definitely is not our Job
to control profits" he answered.
Our job is to control prices. How
ever, when a man comes to us and
asks for price increase I think we
have the right to ask him how much
money he is making"
In reply to question as to the
possibility of any new rationing pro-
gram being introduced, Mr.. Bowles
said that coal may be rationed, al
though he was not sure that it
would.
Divisions Realigned.
The OPA since its organization
has had six price divisions under its
deputy administrator in charge Of
pricing. Mr.. Bowles said these divi-
sions were being realigned and per-
haps one or two would be eliminated.
He said the problem OF price control
in department stores would be
placed under one division.
Food prices would comprise an
other division, while the job of set
ting costs for various industrial
products would be under a separate
head. A fourth section would handle
prices OF what he called material
and fuel
Sumner T Pike, a member OF the
Securities Exchange Commission,
who heads the OPA fuel price divi-
sion, was the only top price official
to retain his job. Mr.. Pike is a bus
iness man of wide experience. The
jobs Of directing four of OPA's price
divisions have been vecant for some
time.