Evening star., 1943-06-16
The President Soys NO

Inc PRESIDENT Says No
President Roosevelt, turning a deaf
ear to the demands of congressional
spokesman for appointment of a food
czar, has served notice that he in
tends to 20 ahead with the admins
tration's food subsidy program unless
and until better plan is put forward.
Mr.. Rooseyelt's theory Is that in some
relatively few instances the legiti-
mate costs Of certain foods might
rise above the ceiling prices, and that
in these cases 1t would be better to
offset the cost advance through
subsidies rather than higher prices.
That, as far as it goes, may very we'll
be true. But it is not the whole story.
Subsidies, standing alone, cannot
keep down the cost Of living, and, in
fact, they may lead to the worst sort
OF imitation. Their usefulness, II they
be deemed useful, arises only when
they are employed as part of we'll
rounded program. The other ele-
ments Of the program have been
stated time and again, and are we'll
known. But they are not being
effectively employed, and until this is
done resort to extensive subsidies
VIII be dangerous and probably futile
One Of the most important parts of
an adequate stabilizatiOn program is
effective wage control. Mr.. Roosevelt
took note Of this yesterday when he
said that price ceilings and wage
freezing were inevitable weapons
against imitation. That Is a correct
statement, but it was curious Ian
guage for the President to use
because wages have not been frozen
and the administration has con-
Sistently opposed wage "freezing,"
preferring instead to rely on what is
called wage Stabilization.
In a more comprehensive state
ment OF the problem, OPA Admins
traitor PrentiSs Brown attributed
what he described as the failure To
stabilize living costs to four things:
% An Inadequate tax program; (2D
the inability OF the War Labor Board
to stabilize wages prior to last Octo-
Der 2; ,3, inadequate power to con-
troll farm prices, and a inadequate
use of subsidies
II these four points cover the
reasons for the failure of the stabil-
lzation program, as Mr.. Brown says
Is the case, what is the prospect for
the future as it can be seen today?
The tax program is still inadequate.
yet Mr.. Roosevelt takes the position
that he Is not going to recommend
amy new tax program; that this is
The responsibility of Congress. And
III Congress The men who shape tax
policy are talking only of higher
taxes in 1914, not In lS43,
The power to control farm prices
is still Inadequate TINS Is more the
fault Of Congress than uf the Pres
ldent, Yet the fact Of inadequacy
remains and it will become more seri-
Gus II the administration yields to
further wage demands.
The Stabillzation of wages con-
tinues to be inadequate, and if the
WLB was granted adequate power
on October 2, as Mr.. Brown seems to
believe, this power has not been
vigorously exercised. The President
speaks as though wages had been
frozen. Does that mean that John
L. Lewis is not going to get more
Tor the miners? Only a few days
ago, after railroad workers had been
awarded pay increase in excess
ol the little steel formula, the Pres
ident himself suggested that they
ought to get still more through q new
overtime arrangement. Is this wage
freezing? The War Labor Board,
even In those instances in which it
holds increases within the limits
OF the little steel formula, refuses to
take account OF actual weekly earn
lngs, preferring to deal only with
rates OF pay. But with weekly earn
ings (due to overtime) on the rise
can this be called wage freezing?
The plain fact is that we have not
an adequate tax bill, nor adequate
control Of farm prices, nor ADEQUATE
stabilization OF wages. II the Pres
ldent seeks an alternative to reliance
on subsidies, which cannot do the lob
alone, he might profitably undertake
to improve the functioning Of these
other parts Of his own program.