The midland journal. (Rising Sun, Md.) 1885-1947, 1945-11-09
News "a,
Behind,
THENE|'||||l!$I|5|IEI!11
By PAUL MALLoN :,


imitation" which is being raised as
spectre behind the daily news Of
strikes, wage debates and govern
ment economic planning.
No one in this country has seen an
imitation walking, or / should say,
running. Adults with memories
may recall it as something which
happened in Germany after the last
war, when bushel basket of money
was necessary to buy meal. But in
general the news debate treats it
as an infinite kind of prospect with
out dimensions, sort of economic
he'll they know can happen, yet they
cannot picture it.
The kind of imitation talked
about now, should be easy to un-
dersfand thoroughly. We have
gone far enough toward it to
make the landmarks visible. 1t
is unlike any which has gone be-
fore in history, because pri-
marily it is a price imitation.
In Germany, the wreckage of the
money system and the bankruptcy
of the country, brought the condi-
ton in which a glass of beer cost
100 marks or so. In other countries,
such as China, a depleted treasury
already has brought comparative in
dation.
We are not bankrupt and our
treasury took in As billion dol
lars last year. Ours is an imitation
of prices directly. We have short
age of goods, all goods, due to war
wastes, increased consumption and
free distribution of our supplies
around the world. The cost Of many
things already has doubled since be-
fore the war.
WILL REFUSE TO BUY
Now the unions want a 80 per
cent wage increase in this time of a
goods shortage. However much they
get of their demand, prices will be
increased at least that much and
probably more. My experience as a
consumer in this brave new eco
nomic world has convinced me
that all that is needed to increase
prices is an excuse.
If man can sell his goods for an
ever increasing price, he will do it.
If he controls a sellers market
such as we have now where people
pay anything asked, he would be
superhuman if he did not resist both
the loose government regulations
and conscience, if any.
But the course Of upward
wage jumps and upward price
jumps will run, as soon as the
shortage of goods is over, into
buyer resentment. The wage
price infiationary spiral in
evitably must encounter the day
when people will not buy.
Indeed there necessarily must
be day when they cannot pay
the price if they would, because
the wages Of no other class have
increased as have the wages Of
union labor. We are getting to
the point where we can see the
people will close their pocket
books and strike or will have to
strike i'm the economic sense,
purchasing only that which il
necessary,
Then the house will fall down. The
spiral will collapse with thud. De
clining demand will cause declining
production unemployment - depres-
sion.
From then on the depression can
go many ways. The government
cannot collect even IS billion dol
lars or a fraction of it from a coun-
try in the throes of depression. De-
clining business brings declining tax
receipts. The government can hard
ly borrow on top of 300 billion
dollar war debt for deficit f.
nancing to promote another gigantic
spending program to save the stu
alton.
It would probably start the print
ing presses and bring to its final
logical conclusion the bankruptcy Of
the nation, because this is the only
thing it could do.
In this process everyone who
has anything of value from q
bank account to bond would
lose it or suffer terrific depre-
citation of anything he was able
to hold through the crisis. But
those who have nothing Of value
would suffer more severely, for
it is reasonable to expect the
starvation here that every other
nation in similar circumstances
has encountered.
Then would come dictatorial so
cialism. 1t would have to be a die
tatorship because the world knows
no other way to handle people who
will not behave of their own ac-
! cord. It would have to be socialism
because this is the common political
method today of handling nations in
bankruptcy.
The Truman administration has
been working behind its doors the
last week trying to get wage poll
cy upon which to base solutions, but
has found it hard to do. Labor Sec
rotary Schwellenbach thought we
! had one in the oil settlement hut