The Waterbury Democrat., 1943-01-15

| SVVSE EuDOm pOlHb OI VleW this war on the home front is the battle of civilian supply, of taxation of price control, of wage control O. rationlng, of farm prices, of man. power, of every single domestic economy policy laid down in an ef- fort to support the war effort.
 In short, this battle at home Is the battle against imitation. And the next few months should tell whether that battle is to be won or lost.
 The demands for q retreat on the anti.infiationary home front arc many and loud.
 IT The farm lobby-representa ~ tives of the farm owners or. ganizations-and the farm bloc in Congress demand higher prices for farm products. Although farm in- come for the entire country in l942 was Sl billion higher than 1t had ever been in the most profitable farm years, the farm lobby main- tains that Is not enough to meet Increased labor costs. These in- creased labor costs stem from a shortage of farm labor, 0 demand for larger farm production, the drafting of farm labor and an ap- parent shortage of new farm Illa- chinery.
 On the other hand, the anti-in- hationists contend that if farm prices are permitted to advance, up will go the cost of food and that will result in e demand for in. creased wages and there you have the beginning of an infiationary spiral which can only mean higher war costs and higher taxes.
 RELAXED RATIONING
 WANTED
 0 There Is general demand
 ' from the affected areas for cas- ing up on wartime restrictions, par ticularly on fuel oil, gasoline, tires end mileage rationing. Rationine in general is not popular. A new price administrator will be on the job soon, replacing Leon Henderson
 There will be insistent demands that this new price administrator ease up a little, to satisfy the un. popularity of rationing at home. Il that endangers the supply of petrol cum and rubber products for the armed services, the people complain ing the loudest against mileage ra- tioning consider 1t unimportant.
 Ia The further rationing of food OS stuffs-meatS, canned goods and dairy products-will meet with plenty of criticism during periods when people are getting used to this rationing, although 1t should be ob- vious to every housewife that the present system of voluntary ration ing of meat has been complete failure. Nevertheless, anyone who wants to can sit down and figure out plenty of objections to the point" system of food rationing and the "inequities" 1t works on the up- per-income, higher standard of nv- ing groups who have been used to all the meat, all the canned goods they wanted.
 There will be plenty of angry speeches made about this in the next few months. Some of the ration ing officials say privately that they have only themselves to blame for this, because they have not sold the country on the idea that it should be considered just as unpatriotic to make speech against rationing and price control, as it would be 10 make speech against the pur- chase of war bonds.
 RAW MATERIALS, SCARCITY 4 The pinch for raw materials is x' beginning to be felt. Farmers de- mand more steel for the manufac- ture of farm machinery, as men, toned above. Rubber Administrator William N. Jeffers demands more foi the erection of synthetic rubber plants. If mileage rationing restric- tions are eased up and JefferS doesn't get his synthetic plants. here is the making of a complete break. down of the countrty's transporta- tion-on-rubber by l944.
 Yet if Jeffers does get material for his rubber factories, construc- tion of plants for production oi aviation gasoline and other war ma terials may be curtailed, endanger- ing the war effort. E The manpower squeeze is sinh O' lar. The general staf says I needs an Army of 7.5 million men Yet because the draft takes mer away from farm and factory. wher' they are also needed, farm leaders manufacturers and even some civil ian government officials favor reduc' ing the size of the Army fave keeping the home front Intact ans as usual even at the expense Q the fighting front. q The burden of war taxation ] W' just beginning to be tel through the Victory tax payroll de ductions. War taxes will really D felt when people make out thel income tax returns before March la There wiIl be holiers aplenty abou that. yet the new Congress mus pass even higher taxes for ists With that will come demands 10 wage lnsrehses to meet the tai payments. With that comes inna ton.
 There you have the essentials Q this war on the home front today