Detroit evening times. (Detroit, Mich) 1921-1958, 1943-12-01


Rupert Hughes -. soldier, novelist,
historian and humOrist. His re-.
marks phrase present-day history
i'm his own entertaining style. Mr..
Rupert Hughes -.
HUGHES: Last Sunday | told what
trouble the western oil producers are hav-
ing with bureaucrats who, instead OF pour
ing oil on the troubled waters, insist on
pouring cold water on the troubled oil
men. The week before | discussed the
anxeties of the aircraft industry. It's
planes fly all right, but when peace comes,
will the industry fly to pieces?
This morning the meat of my discourse
is meat, a subject that comes home to all
of us, though the meat has not been COM
ing home to most of us very often of late
Now we are going to get lot OF It, 1t
won't be very good, but eat it while you
can, for very soon there will be none to
speak of. Along about New Years Day
the immortal epic of the Sprat family will
run about like this:
Jack Sprat could live on fats,
His wife could live on leans;
But in barged the bureaucrats,
And now they live on beans"
The meatmakers are not complaining
that they are being starved out as are so
many small businesses. They are all max
ing money-or at least they are being al
lowed to hold it till the tax collector gets
around. But they are patriots as well as
business men and they resent taking
orders from men who know nothing about
their business. Did l say taking orders
correction: taking disorders.
The head of one large pork packery,
very large.hearted man, told me that the
nj hair hact IF
them had excellent ideas. They knew moth
ing of the problems at first but were gradually
learning.
That is mighty handsome but isn't 1t an
odd way TO get an education? Isn't it quaint
economy to put know-nothing in authority
and let him give out contracts, shower ques-
tionnaires and follow his womanly intuition
in giving big industry orders before he
knows what it is all about?
| know less than nothing about how TO
run battleshp; but I'll bet l could wreck
one in short order if you gave me control
of the controls and ordered the crew to obey
my commands
Here is what trade paper has TO say on
the subject of hogs. The war food administra-
ton, fearful that farmers may dump more
hogs on the market during December and
January than professors can handle, has
quietly sent out word that the government
may not be able TO carry through its guar
antee to support hog prices at specified
levels.
memo to state war boards warns of
possible collapse of the marketing, processing
and distribution machinery.
Here is a headline about sheep: "OPA
regulations play havoc with sheepmen." Here
is something about cattemen and two govern
in Otho hair
THE schedule Of subsidies has been
changed on live cattle. OPA has advocated
live beef ceilings a. necessary. in controlling
consumer costs. while WA (War Food Ad-
ministrati0n), backed up by cattlemen, con-
tended the plan would prove unavoidable"
Representative Kleberg of Texas warned
that from December to March there would be
a national beef shortage, "the like of which
we have not yet seen" He accused OPA
officials of deliberate misrepresentation when
they said the cattle industry approved the
plan.
But why should bureaucrat pay any at
tention TO Mr.. Kleberg? Who's he? No
body but the owner Of the largest cattle ranch
in the United States. All the more reason
for ignoring him. The OPA will do the order
ing. Let him do the beefing.
The directors of the Texas and South
western Cattleraisers' Association predicted
It's, .o,.s 1885,, sstss - 7s.0st serious pcrl
shortage the country, has ever known"
"Stockmen insist that the shortage will be due
TO the unwise and conflicting orders that have
come out of the various government agencies
and have spread confusion through the entire
cattle industry"
In Denver the livestock growers, feeders
and market men, in convention assembled
said that the cattle price control program
was ill-conceved and ill-worded by the
OPA In fact, they called the whole program