Evening star., 1943-05-26

again. The Or David Lawrence
flee of Price Administrator is in
wrangle over rolling prices back
and the gasoline shortage in the
Eastern States has brought us near
est to the point of a breakdown in
the civilian economy seen thus far
in the war.
Mismanagement and incompe-
tence are bad enough in wartime,
out when these are coupled with an
internal war, the results are dis
astrous. The war within the United
States continues at almost the same
pace as before Pearl Harbor. The
left and right wingers are battling
each other inside governmental
agencies and the proponents of
Government ownership who hold
important places in the war mech
anism are the subject of consider
able opposition and suspicion by the
proponents of the free enterprise
system.
r ears IOG TTct
At bottom much of the feverish
preparation known as postwar
planning" even before the war is
Won, is the result of fears that the
free enterprise system may be super
seded by some form of totalitarian-
ism or State socialism. While the
New Deal processes to be liberal"
its method of operation has been a
close approximation of some of the
totalitarian tactics that have super
seded freedom of enterprise in other
countries.
Much is being made. incidentally,
of the dissolution of the Inter-
national Communist movement by
she Russian government. This ges-
.ure. which is widely welcomed, will
oe meaningless if some method isn't
found to dissolve the collectivist
movement here which, in the guise
Of liberalism, would impose a sys-
iem Of State control for everything
from the press to radio and from
tree enterprise and competition to
free labor.
The labor union movement, for
instance, has been asleep at the
witch even as government has
.aken hold of the major unions and
inserted its influence in almost
very important step taken. Thus
:, few years ago the return of the
hayward unions of the CIO to
ne AFL would have been regarded
IS a progressive step toward labor
unity, but today the return on the
cart of the miners union has to
Undergo the scrutiny of the Govern
nent itself and even the committees
appointed to consider such a step
must be selected from personnel
l!.nown to be friendly to or under
me influence of the Roosevelt ad-
Tninistration.
Affects Confidence.
The War Labor Board goes on
functioning without any statutory
authority to suspend collective bar
gaining when it pleases and to issue
edicts based on its own formulas
that have no relation to any basic
statute.
In the end the confidence of the
workers cannot be maintained that
way. The intrusion of governmental
power, with the excuse that any,
thing the administration says is
tight and has to be done ito aid in
she prosecution of the war" would
De accepted if the formula were
widely understood to be equitable.
The lack of national labor policy
Is now coming home to roost.
1t is surprising that the Congress
mas allowed matters to drift without
action. The Senate passed a no.
strike bill introduced by Senator
Connally, Democrat, of Texas. The
House has been slow to take it up
Yet strikes are increasing, and since
there is no penalty for calling a
strike in wartime. 1t may be ex-
nected that the Interruptions will
grow. This is particularly unfortu-
pate at time when the whole war
production program is undergoing
some revision to conform to what is
called balanced schedule.
Unemployment in some plants and