Evening star., 1943-04-03

AAAAAAAoeA q SAoAA Az J
paying for the -
mistake it made David Lawrence.
in 1910, 194l and 1912. The veto
of the Bankhead bill is logical step
to correct those mistakes. President
Roosevelt, in persuasive and clear
cut message, has given his reasons
for rejecting the Bankhead bill,
which had passed both Houses by
substantial majority.
But Mr.. Roosevelt finds it harder
to hold the line today against in
f1ation because he didn't start soon
enough. In June 1910 he allowed
the National War Labor Board, in
the famous General Motors case, to
start the upward spiral Of wage in
creases. and it didn't stop until the
October 3, 1912 law was passed. The
workers have had their wages frozen.
Executives have had their salaries
frozen. Rightly the leaders of labor
unions insist that prices must be
frozen, too.
But the farm organizations have
protested against the trend It Is
true they have not objected to CELL
mgs on prices, but they have man.
aged to start an argument about
how costs shall be computed in ar
irving at price ceilings and they
tnCISfad 81
ready made in the form of subsidies
should not be included in figuring
the farmers income This, the Ad-
ministration has refused to do. Con-
sress, feeling the political pressure
Of the farmer vote, has fought the
restrictive process on farm prices
that everybody knows is inevitable.
Showdown Arrives.
So, whatever one may think of
the laundering evolution of price
control and wage control and of the
clumsy way the tax laws have been
operated so as to give the we'll
established and well-flnanced COM
panies an advantage over their
weaker competitors, the fact re-
mains that the fighting line against
imitation must be held and the show
down has arrived.
To sustain the veto is not to
support just the President, but to
support all those who are fighting
i1fofinN
to argue about the way things have
developed-the conditions are here
and must be met now in the midst
of war
The controversy has a deeper
kignif1cance than is involved in the
avoidance of dangerous imitation.
Is is Mr.. Roosevelt's unfortunate
involvement in a dispute with John
l.. Lewis, the leader of the Miners
Union. Mr.. Lewis is shrewd
protagonist, and he never ceases to
try to obtain for his constituency
the largest measure of rewards pos
klble. Wartime cramps the style
Of labor leader somewhat. but Mr..
Lewis is bold and venturesome, and
he has used the dispute over wages
In the coal fields to get national
attention for his tactics.
In the labor world it is conceded
that whoever appears as the
champion OF higher wages becomes
more popular than the next leader
who acquiesces in plans to freeze
wages. Mr.. Lewis tried to veer
away from the so-called little steel
formula" He has said that the cost
OF living has gone up and that labor
isn't bound by the no-strike pledge
II Its equities are not recognized
by the War Labor Board.
Fight to Defeat Lewis.
The Roosevelt administration
from the President down. is de-
termined to defeat Mr.. Lewis-to
avoid any concession that might
appear to weaken the War Labor
Boards handling of the little steel
formula" Certainly. if in the midst
OF the coal negotiations the Bank
head bill veto is not sustained, Mr.
Lewis wins the battle. He super
sedes in prestige either Philip Muir
ray of the C1O or William Green
of the AFL.
The farmers who look askance at
the rising power of Mr.. Lewis would
be playing into his hands If the
farm organizations in Washington
assisted in making Mr.. Lewis the
monarch of all he surveys-the true
leader who can upset the admins
tration's wage stabilization pro-
gram. For if farm prices 90 up
because of the Bankhead bill, the
wage increase to compensate will
have to be granted.
Mr.. Roosevelt has made it possible
for labor leaders to become dicta-
tors and to accumulate political
power. He has made it possible for
farm groups to become politically
more powerful than ever before.
Blocs and groups caused the
French Republic to disintegrate-
their chickering's prevented adequate
preparation for the outbreak of war
In 1889. Mr.. Roosevelt has taken
courageous position in fighting
the farm bloc. If he wins, he will
be strengthened in any issues he
may raise with the labor bloc.
That's why vote to override the
veto Is vote for chaos on the in
f1ation front