Browning chief. [volume] (Browning, Mont.) 1941-1953, 1944-06-23

Barrow Lyons defeated, the dew
il of initiation
would get his hoof inside the door;
and that from then on there would
be no stopping him until he had
pulled down the house.
This has seemed an arbitrary and
dictatorial viewpoint to leaders Of
farm organizations. All over the
country their clients, the farmers Of
America, have smarted from vari-
GUS OPA rulings. They have been
determined to find some relief from
those which have irked them the
most. Farm leaders do not wish to
destroy basic price controls, how
ever.
But as a result of the COM
bined attacks of business and
farm interests, price control
faces today one Of its recurring
crises. Scores Of amendments
to the emergency price control
act have been referred to the
senate committee on banking
and currency, and debates be-
hind closed doors have been
Shdi 6Cu WIFI hAC anu u liiioSohC.
Among the amendments which
stand the best chance of acceptance
are those proposed by Sen. Kenneth
S. Wherry (R., Neb.), Republican
Whip. These amendments include
elimination of the 60-day limitation
on the time for filing formal pro-
tests against inequitable prices, au-
fbori7 atiop for oroapi1atiopc &c y,a11
as individual sellers to challenge in
the courts price regulations, re-
quirement that civil enforcement
proceedings be brought in the dis
trict where the defendant resides or
maintains a place of business, op-
portunity for the defendant in price
violation proceedings to plead that
the price at which he sold was no
higher than parity price.
Farm Group Support
Recently newspaper release sup
porting the Wherry amendments was
issued by the farm group and
signed: 1.-THE National Grange, by
A. S. Goss, national master; Ameri-
can Farm Bureau federation, by
Edward O'Neal, president; National
Council of Farmer Cooperatives, by
John H. Davis, executive secretary,
and National Cooperative Milk Pro-
ducers' federation, by Charles w.
Holman, secretary"
When a combination like that
gets behind measure, some
thing generally gives way. This
time resistance Is unusually
stubborn. The administration is
fighting with all its power every
move to weaken price controls
particularly proposals which
would permit prolonged legal
proceedings, and thus make
law that is very difficult to ad-
minister virtually impossible to
administer.
But it is on the legal front that
the farm leaders make their princi-
pal attack. Their joint statement
declares:
1.-THE legal subterfuges that OPA
has employed to prevent court tests
of some of its high-handed actions
are destructive of the peoples re-
spect for and confidence in govern
ment The chief reason that
price ceilings on food have been rea-
sonably effective has been the fact
that American farmers have con-
tinued to produce at the highest lev
ell in history.
This production has been
achieved in spite of serious handi-
caps imposed by OPA as a result of
inequitable ceilings, tardily an
nounced, indefinite and unjust regu-
lations and widely differing and
often contradictory interpretations
In many instances, price regulations
and other actions of the OPA have
disregarded the will of congress.
The agency has refused in instance
after instance, to make price adj
justments required by law, even
though these adjustments would
have made little difference in the
cost of living and would have ma
terially increased production"
There is not enough space in this
column to go into all of the intrica-
cies of this battle. The OPA has
made so many blunders that it is
hard to find an unbiased audience
before which to defend it, despite
the fact that it has been far more
effective in controlling initiation than
many who dislike it are willing to
admit.
But there are mighty few people
in the organization who like their
jobs. Many of the leading business
! men who accepted posts under the
new administrator, Chester Bowles,
took thankless tasks at considerable
financial sacrifice.
The Office of Price Administra-
ton has killed off two administra-
tors. The turnover on its legal staff
has been about 500 per cent. have
come to the conclusion that to &C.
cept a job on its staff requires just
about as much patriotism as volun-
teering for behind-the-lines fighting
J in enemy territory.