Milford chronicle., 1945-12-14
THE APPARENT POLICY OF OpA is

through ignorance or seltishness. promotinr
inllatlon The PLAIN fact Is that OPA Itself,
II anybody, is promoting initiation. The evj-
dence rests with thousands Of retailers.
during the War, l1gld price ceilings were
Stfongiy supported by retail! distributors.
One OF the purposes Of such ceilings was to
cufp civilian production, thus turning more
EFFORT toward War production With the sud
den ending OF the war, the problem chan9ed
ehlfeIN: Rgld price ceilings that hurt civil
IAN production should have been immediately
abandoned because high civilian production
then became the one sure W;tv to prevent
inllatlon. Ever since the end Of war. retilel.S
nave strongly urged a flexible stabiliZation
program wherein prices would be freed of
control or adjusted, with the primary pul-
pose OF encouraging production and letting
nigh production in turn control imitation.
OnlE IN TINS way dO the retailers feel that
imitation can be controlled and eventually per
mt return to (; truly competitive free
market.
Today, months after the end of the war.
OPA IS riding in the best Don OuiXote Stvlp.
JouStng against initiation with the obsolete
weapon OF rigid price ceilings Nainglori0uSly
II is giving the Windmlls Il terrible beating.
But, and here is the damning evidence of
OPA's hallucations: Attractive price CEILINGS
apply to essential goods that no longer exist
goods that have literally been driven off
the market. A single low cost retailer cites
the following attempt to stock his stores for
three-mOnth period: 66O.OOO work socks
were ordered, 100000 received: | 100 GOO
mems shirts to sell for less than 80 cents
were needed, none obtalnablc--t the same was
true OF mems shorts; 800 GOO children'S nm
ION suits were needed, $4,000 obtained: in
S1.96 millinery, $500 Womcn'S hats were
needed 8,lOO secured; in the So 10 bracket
Tor the same article 1000 were needed. five
received. Space limits the citing Of more flo
ufeS. Every one of these shortages could have
been corrected by Il slightly higher price
which was forbidden by OPA.
OPA admits that shortages are intIa
tionaIy. 1t then proceeds to make more
shortages
The tragic penalties of dictatorjaI eco-
nomlc control are beginning to appear
@o@
CONGRESS IS CONSIDERING partial
repeal OF the Smith-Connally Bill which was
originally designed to curb strikes but which ,
III ACTUAL practice has had the ODp0sitp Of
lect. amendments to the bill are pronusrd
that would penalize unions for failure tn live
up TO no-Stllke contracts or for engaging in
pontlcal activity. In addition an amendment .
mas been recommended to exempt supeIyis ,
orE ana managerial employees from the col
lectlVe bargaining provisions Of the Waunnr ,
Act. '7''Oi
Cnquestionably, supporters Of these mn,- !
SufeS VIII be condemned by some as anti
UNION however, Legislative action TO cOntro
unions must be established or unions viii do ,
stfoN themselves and bring unemplovmpnt t
ana suffering to millions. The coal industry
Is Is al example OF the dangerous possibilities
Ni9uerh machlhely has largely replaced the y
me 0Ie-lIille n pick ana shovel work Of mining d
vi all the coal from Americas undcrpround !
mines ! nlne-tenths is cut by machines; abont q
hall IS loaded by machines Because Of thn :
resultant hlgh production, coal miners are b
{ullong the highest paid workers in the conn
Try. wages have been raised until the miners /
receive an average OF over 60 cents for every :
DOLLAR OF bltuminouS coal sales at the mines )
the nllhe owners average about cents profit e
Even q modest boost in mine wages can T.
!['TG E q substantial effect on the price Of coal.
30 lhe leaders of powerful labor unions suh- :.
Ject TO no legislative restrictions. could in :, ?
contest for higher and higher wages. re-
SfH ueHS ol consequences, price coal ont of IFS $
hiuket. Declining production and lost iohs '
would be the price of their 'victo,y." ;,
F0r the protection Of American w0rkmpn u
ana l lOi the preservation Of unions, stems VI
Should De taken to place legal responsibilities ~
upon laOof unions commensurate with their y
power " ''''il $,
IN EVERY DIRECTION we aro foood :.
with the seemingly inevitabilitv Of incrnnSoJ /,
government control, although we talk of less cr
control We resemble a person looking back e
A. something he wants as he walks avav -,
rom 1t. The answer to such a paradox must st
oe that we want less government contrnI ei
(adly, but not as badly as we want other III
,hings. ''''ei
For example, while we dislike the drift m
Um"au a1'ocatic W government, we dislike the Sc
Hanger OF imitation more, and resort TO o0y- m
.fnment control in the hope of avelting if =,
AGAIN, while we dislike the same trend evi- wi
rent IN compulsory arbitration of labor dis pr
}uteS' we dislike the disputes more than we III
nSIIke to be governed by decree. We We
j 1ht1i II we feeI that stopping the drift to- tn
ward dlctatorial government is morn ;n' II
'ortant than anything else, the drift viii NOT -, ID
'e stopped, neither will imitation nor Labor We
rouble ''' ''"'''