Evening star., 1943-06-21

stltution, they ~
imposed a four David Lawrence.
year tenure on the executive and
they gave him through the veto
power a controlling judgment over
the acts of both Houses of Congress
equal to the votes of two-thirds of
one House and just one vote less
than two-thirds of the other House.
The people can speak at the polls
on presidential policy only once in
four years. The Canadian and Brit
ish people can force an election at
any time.
This means that the American
legislature, unlike the British par
Lament, does not possess an over
night check against arbitrary or
autocratic action by executive agen-
cies of governmental fact which
the radicals who have been pattern
ing their administrative law on
British practice by means of execu-
tive regulations have overlooked.
So when the radicals in Govern
ment agencies introduce social re-
forms and punitive measures, taking
as their Cue some vaguely worded
phrases in a statute, Congress can
do nothing about it except to exer-
else the power of the purse" And
that's what Is happening today.
Intrigue Against Brown.
Specifically. the Office of Price
Administration started out to be an
innocent-looking agency to help
ward of imitation by imposing price
ceilings on various commodities.
Leon Henderson, who is a member
of the original New Deal group Of
economists, picked for his staff pro-
fessors and lawyers who saw eye to
eye with him in his economic philos-
ophy-an understandable and logi-
cal approach from his standpoint.
But when Mr.. Henderson left the
OPA, his advisers and policy makers
didn't 60.
Prentiss Brown, who took over,
was faced with the necessity Of
putting in new personnel. He was
vehemently fought on this by the
powerful intrigue of the radicals
who have access to the White House,
where in its outer Offices sits an
other group of radical advisers at
the elbow of James F. Byrnes, once
director of Economic Sterilization
and now War Mobilization chief.
For weeks the press was filled with
"left wing" criticism about the
wobbly OPA and how Mr.. Brown
wasn't functioning effectively. Ac-
tually he was facing an internal war
-one of those things Elmer Davis
wishes the press wouldn't report. 1t
turns out that Mr.. Brown still has
the advisers who believe that the
war can be used to achieve reforms,
especially the control and regulation
of the profit system by Government.
Blow at Business Uncovered.
Within the last week a special
House committee under the chair
manship of Representative Smith
Democrat, Of Virginia, has uncovered
some amazing evidence of how the
so-called policy makers in OPA twist
the phrases of law into regulations
that strike into the very heart of the
American system of free enterprise
Harold Allen of New York, counsel
for the committee and one of the
ablest managers of a congressional
investigation who has appeared on
the horizon in some time, has re-
vealed through the files of the OPA
policy makers themselves con-
f1dential memoranda and policy pro-
grams, which clearly show that the
American businessman not only
must face excess profits taxes by the
Treasury under law but an addi-
tional system of profit control
evasively termed price control" by
the OPA staff-which actually regu-
lates profits irrespective of the prin-
ciple Of efficiency in production.
Thus if company finds a way to
lower costs per unit through expan-
sion of output, it must lower its price
to suit the OPA. Congress has never
voted that policy, and it is contrary
to the whole development of Ameri-
can industrial production. Large
companies are penalized on the
profit side on such vague basis as the
need for controlling imitation. I,
was brought out, too, that the OPA
acts even when no price rise has oc-
CURED or is threatened in a parti.
cular article, but when there is 6
sort of inflationary tendency in the
air in other commodities. The justi.
flcation given is admitted to be tt
appease labor groups and prevent
demands for wage increases.
Arbitrary Base Set Up.
The OPA officials on the stant
have conceded that their rollbacl
in prices or their freezing of prices
can mean reduction not only ir
profits but in taxes due the Fedora
Government. Also they concede thai
their moves sometimes increase pur.
chasing power and widen the "in.
fiationary gap" Nowhere has Con.