Evening star., 1943-06-10
Pacing Mr.. Buruch

The announcement by James F.
Byrnes, director of the Office of War
Mobiliza ton, that he intends to make
use of the talents of Bernard M.
Baruch brings into the foreground
one of the most interesting per-
sonalities in this wartime Capital.
| Mr.. Baruch has not been inactive.
But with the exception of his inves-
tigation of the rubber shortage, his
efforts have been attended by little
| or no publicity. His function has
| been that of behind -the-scenes ad-
wiser and trouble shooter-a handy
man to have around and one with
passion for anonymity" at least
! equal to that which the President
has decreed for his White House
secretariat. But now, with the an
| nouncement by Mr.. Byrnes, the man
who headed the War Industries Board
in the World War emerges publicly
as one of the influential figures in
the shaping OF the domestic war pro-
| gram.
Mr.. Byrnes said that 1t is his pur-
! pose to look to Mr.. Baruch for advice,
and it will be interesting to observe
| the extent to which the latter's views
may influence future national policy
In the past Mr.. Baruch and the
President, while in agreement on OBJ
| jectives, have been far apart as to
methods of attaining them.
Perhaps the most conspicuous OF
these differences was reflected In Mr..
| Baruch's insistence, back in 1941, on
the Importance of investing one man
with authority for the direction of
the war effort. This the President was
unwilling to do, and all manner OF
alternative devices were tried, but
the recent designation of Mr.. Byrnes
as director Of OWN seems to indicate
that Mr.. Baruch's view on this ques-
ton has at last prevailed.
He was also in fundamental dis
| agreement with the administration
on the method of achieving price con-
| troll. Testifying before House COM
mittee in September, 1941, he was
critical OF the administrations price
control bill, which he described as a
"piecemeal" approach to the problem.
Il don't believe in piecemeal price
fixing" he said Il think you have
first to put ceiling over the whole
price structure, including wages,
rents and farm prices up to the parity
level-and no higher-and then to
| adjust separate price schedules up
ward separately, If necessary, where
| justice or Government policy so re-
| quire." These recommendations were
not followed, and today we have
price control system which has ad-
mittedly failed. This failure is due
| in part to the attitude Of Congress
on farm prices and in part to the ad-
ministration's unwillingness to put
a real ceiling over wages. Whether
the situation can be saved at this late
date by application of the Baruch
program is questionable, but it will
| be interesting to see whether any
more serious attention is paid to the
recommendation that he has made.
In view of Mr.. Byrnes' statement
that he proposes to take a part in
shaping tax policies it is also inter-
esting to take a look at Mr.. Baruch's
views on this subject. Some two years
ago the United States News asked MIR.
Baruch whether he favored heavier
taxes on low incomes, sales taxes or
a more stringent excess profits tax
on corporations. To this he replied:
my answer Is: ALL"
Since that time the more stringent
excess profits tax has been forth
coming, but the administration still
SHES away from the sales tax and
has only begun to dip into the lower
income levels for it's revenue. But
with some $16,000,000 900 in new reve-
nue. to be raised, it may be that Mr..
Baruch will see the day when his
views on this question also will pre-
vail.