The Waterbury Democrat., 1943-06-11

small geographically and Canada is small in number of inhabitants and the difficulties of administering subsidies, controls and enforcement grow greater as the size of the job increases.
 Vigorous programs of enforce ment and education are the con- comitants of success for any price, rationing and anti-inflation cam- paigns. These things haven't been sold to the American people. It is even beginning to appear that large elements of the population don't want controls on distribution or ceilings on prices. Education on the needs of these things ha5 been a complete flop.
 ENFORCEMENT A FARCE
 Too many of the people who have been converted to the need for price control and convinced of the dan- gers of imitation believe that ra- tioning and such stuff are all right for the other fellow, but shouldn't be applied to themselves. There has been altogether too much of the idea that controls of any kind are un- necessary. Too much of the "let things alone and they'll take care of themselves" idea.
 The fallacy of that contention should be clear to anyone who looks at what happens when. enforcement is relaxed Enforcement so far has been a farce, from the top up. The subordinate officials charged with doing the work have tried hard enough, but have been handicapped by lack of support from their super iors.
 To be effective, price and ration ing enforcement would take a staff of $500 inspectors and enforcement officials, plus tremendous civilian volunteer force Price Administra- tor Brown has not encouraged the building up of price enforcement, but has even gone so far as to as- sure Congress that fund of more than $20 million appropriated for price enforcement would not be used.
 
 A more effective use of industry could be made, to increase cooper ation with the government on the anti-inflationary crusade. There is too much of the old mistrust of producer and distributor. Each is suspicious of the others intentions to price gouge. Distributors com- plain if farm prices are supported to increase production. Growers complain that the margin is too great between the prices they re- ceive and the prices consumers pay, and that the distributors get too much profit for processing and handling-mor profit than the pro- ducer gets as gross price. When roll-backs come, if the middlemen are squeezed they yell, and if the roll-back is passed on to the farm CTS as a cut in price, they yell.
 Yet the belief persists among the optimists in government, in both Office of Price Administration and War Food Administration, that food production can be encouraged and food price imitation can be controll- ed, simultaneously, using the power of the government to act affirma- lively on both these fronts, along with affirmative action in wage control and vigorous tax program to take off the excess spending power.
 Price control and allocations - which is another name for rationing have most certainly been employ ed effectively by the government on durable goods to curb imitation by cutting the cost of materials of war billions of dollars. There is no req son why similar controls cannot be applied successfully to curb infla- ton by cutting the cost of living once the decision is made to do it, and it is done