Evening star., 1943-11-07
President Turns
To Business
By ODen L. Scott.


must turn to businessmen, and not to
| his old friends among labor and farm
leaders, for support needed to save his
domestic policies.
| At home, above all else in wartime,
Government must prevent a runaway
price situation. Otherwise, war costs
that already are astronomical will get
completely out of hand. Also, the rela-
| tionship between various income groups
within the Nation will get so out of
kilter that the aftermath in peacetime
can be disastrous.
| 1t Is against this background that the
President now must operate. He has
permitted concessions to be given to
organized labor until worker income is
far higher than ever before in history.
He likewise has permitted concessions
to agriculture until the cash income of
farmers is double any normal year.
Yet these two big groups on which the
President rested his peacetime political
power are not satisfied. They are de-
termined to crack wide open the pres
ent wage controls and the present salary
controls on which today's relatively
stable cost OF living rests
If the President is to get support in
| Congress for his effort to check the
| demands of farm leaders, he has no
| place to turn except to businessmen. II
| he expects to marshal resistance to
| new wage demands of organized labor,
| the logical source of resistance is among
employers. Mr.. Roosevelt made his first
| gesture in his search for business sup
| port when he called group of business
leaders to the White House He intends
to have these businessmen back for
other meetings in an effort to re-estab-
lish contact. Until now the President
had confined himself to meeting with
the labor and farm leaders who now
threaten to foresake him.
| Businessmen have not received the
same solicitous attention in this war De.
riod that has been accorded workers
and farmers
Mr.. Roosevelt has sought to place a
s25 900 ceiling on income, regardless Of
peacetime earnings. He has supported
come to a level below 1929, when the
degree Of business activity has been far
above 1929. His tax policies have re-
suited in dividend payments little above
prewar. He has backed the idea of re-
negotiation of war contracts to make
sure that no company doing war work
finds way around tax laws by adding
10
Even so, the President expects that
businessmen now will give him support
in his effort to head off new farm and
labor demands. He apparently is not
offering concessions in return for this
expected support from business. A price
always has been exacted by labor and
farm leaders in their White House deal
ings.
1t is a new experience for Mr.. Roose-
welt to find that he is not in position
to make new concessions to these labor
and farm leaders, but instead must turn
to businessmen.
This experience is forced on the Presi-
dent by two factors. One is the hard
fact that new compromises on wage
increase policy and farm price policy
might result in a runaway price situa-
ton. The second is the fact that the
President chose man of great deter
mination to see that the price and wage
situation is stabilized.
Mr.. Roosevelt selected Judge Fred
Vinson to be head of the Office of Eco
nomic Stabilizzation. Judge Vinson is
turning out to be one official who Is
willing and able to resist very great pres
sure. He has refused to bend under
the type of pressure that the farm bloc
can bring. He also has refused to bend
under the pressure that organized labor
can bring. In fact Judge Vinson over
ruled Mr.. Roosevelt himself when the
President promised more of a wage in
crease to the railroad brotherhoods than
the economic stabilizer felt justified
At the same time, Judge Vinson has
resisted pressure from the oil industry
and the oil States for higher crude oil
prices. He has insisted that the Once
of Price Administration and the War
Food Administration follow a firm line
on prices, while he has vetoed some wage
increases approved by the War Labor
Board.
Judge Vinson definitely is something
new to official Washington. He seems
to be proving that an official can refuse
to compromise and still stay in office.
At least he is living proof of that fact
to date. The fact that Mr.. Roosevelt
is backing him up in the face of intense
pressure is an indication that the Judge
will continue to provide demonstra-
tlon OF flrmness under fire.
Facts and figures show that the Gov
eminent can prevent runaway prices in
wartime If a firm policy is followed.
Firmness in general price policy, II
not wage policy, has been shown during
the past year. In this year the level
OF wholesale prices has varied only
slightly. The level of non-food retail
prices likewise has been little changed.
Food prices however, rose rapidly until
last May, when firm line was taken
affecting them. Since May food prices.
in general, have been fairly well stabil-
lied. with some decline shown.
Judge Vinson expects that he can keep
prices under control, unless Congress
ties his hands He is doing his job with
a very small staff. He has as his right
hand man Paul Porter, who made a
record in stabilizing the Nations war