Detroit evening times., 1945-11-09
BEHIND
THE News
BY Paul.
MalIon

WASHINGTON, Nov. s-Yes-
w terday l tried to show too
much politics was preventing
the world from returning 10
peace.
The Attlee moves 10 get us to
give away money and the
atomic bomb l traced TO pollti-
cal considerations; the bomb TO
a political appeaSement for ma
-tfUnS, and the money for his
domestic political considerations
of socialism for Britain.
But the same tensioned po-
litical spirit can be detected be-
hind all other ills-the Chinese
Communist uprisings, the
planned Soviet elections in
Europe, the Argentine crisis.
MIR. TRUMAN'S latest wage
WI boosting plan is program
10 increase government em-
Pleyes by 20 per cent, congress-
men, cabinet officers and others
even more than this amount. At
a time when the President is
worried about inflation--an in
fiation caused by the shortage
of goods while people have more
money TO spend than goods 10
buy-he wants 10 increase the
wages before he produces the
goods.
l cannot accurately report
why he wants 10 do that which
C ON pl icates his recognized
problem.
Essentially, I suppose, his is
the Roosevelt spending theory
of the depression era. applied
now 10 an initiation when prices
are already too high and the
people have money.
| call it CIO economics be-
cause the theory is backed to-
day mainly by CIO economists.
/ suppose CIO thinks because IL
was popular in Roosevelt's de-
preston days of low prices and
too much goods, il will be popu-
lar today 10 spend, give-away,
raise all wages, in the face of
opposite conditions.
TH1S political angle is the
l. only justification which
seems understandable. The doc
trine therefore must be called
political economics - economics
designed for political effect in
opposition 10 genuine economics
for economic effect.
This was a basic difficulty
furthermore behind the Truman
Wage-price announcement Of
policy to business and the en-
suing labor-managenent confer
ence of the past few days. Re-
publican Senator Taft. who is
an honorable man. said the
speech showed Mr.. Truman had
gone over TO CIO. That makes
il sound permanent, yet GER
tainly it put the basis of union
increases upon the plane of men
getting as much for 40 hours of
production as they did for AZ
and "a hours.
The labor-management issue
OF the day was therefore. hec-
eSSarily drawn to that plane Of
endless haggling, and agree
ment was hard to find-if II
does not prove impossible in the
last analysis.
Mr.. Truman is said once 10
have wanted privately 20 per
cent increase for unions also,
and his espousal of that figure
for the government employees
has been interpreted AS a polti-
cal move TO further political
economics.
LIVERY ONE today knows We
II are in universal crisis.
The question whether our ma
tion will survive is A real one.
A government could play poll
tics with economics in the
Roosevelt day and get away
with il (although it never did
the economic job even then; il
never cured anything).
Today. in an inflationary situ-
alton up TO our necks and a
debt TO reach S300.000,0OO 900,
we are not merely playing with
fire but with a conflagration.
Getting down 10 root causes
then, why are political eco
nomics absorbing most of our
reading and radio-hearing?
You can see the answer be-
hind the New York and Detroit
elections. In Detroit. CIO had
its own candidate for mayor.
and in New York, Tammany
had the backing of the Ameri-
can Labor party, which is a
Communist affiliate Of CIO.
| am not now handling those
subjects, but proving great po-
litical power has been massed
behind political economics.
This accumulation of power
has passed beyond the plane of
equal representation for a mi
nority CIO group. and TO the
point Of absorption Of govern
ment direction.
DOMESTICALLY then, the