The Waterbury Democrat., 1945-06-26

over the lot, the Democrats favor ing continuance of OPA as is for another full year. Less than dozen members from either side broke over the party line on votes and, for once, it was almost impossible to tell the difference between Re- publican and a Democrat. That made poor old OPA purely poli- tical football, and it got terrible kicking around as result.
 The Republican startegy wasn't to repeal OPA outright. Nothing like that. Nearly every Republican speaker stressed how he was all for price control - but The buts were that they wanted prices raised
 They didn't say this right out, but through whole series of amend ments intended to compel OPA to guarantee profits or costs of pro- duction on manufactured goods, on processed foods, on perishable agri- cultural commodities in season and stuff like that. Leaders in this amending business were Jesse P. Wolcott and Fred L. Crawford of Michigan, Howard H. Buffett of Nebraska, John c. Kunkel of Penn sylvania.
 DEMOCRATS CAUGHT
 OFF GUARD
 Everett M. Dirksen of Illinois said all the wisdom was on the Republ- can side and all the votes were on the Democratic side, and the Dem ocratS did have enough votes to kill off all these amendments until Thomas A. Jenkins, of Ohio, came up with his broadside proposal of transfer all OPA functions except rationing to the Department of Ag- riculture. When the Republicans caught the Democratic leaders of guard and put that one over 145 to 142, they cheered like wild men.
 If the Republicans can make this amendment stick in the Senate, they will put OPA out of businses, make life nice for Chester Bowles and hand to the new Secretary of Agriculture, Clinton P Anderson of New Mexico, the hottest potato in the United States today.
 About all Anderson could do in such a situation would be to take over OPAc price control machinery and run it with much the same per- sonnel 1t has today. But the Re- publicans would consider even this a victory - great big added en- barrassment to the Democratic ad- ministration.
 Just how good long-range poli- tical issue the Republicans have got hold of in their opposition to OPA is hard to measure. What the Re- publicans have seized on is the cur rent dissatisfaction of producers and distributors who aren't allowed to make more money - of con- sumers who can't buy everything they want. The Republican urge is to meet this dissatisfaction by cas- ing up on OPA controls so that SUD- pliers will have added money in- centive to make more goods avail able to the demanders who have the money to spend.
 GIVE AN INCH
 LOSE A MILE
 The political danger of this is that when you give an inch you have to let go a mile. If the Repub- licans should succeed in breaking price controls, there would be an immediate, loud demand that wages would have to go up to meet the the higher prices. To carry through and make the most of their initial political victory, the Republicans would then have to lend their SUD- port to breaking the Little Steel" formula.
 That might gain the Republicans some of the labor support they have lost in the last l2 years. On the other hand, broken price control plus broken wage control adds up to one thing - imitation.
 Most of the imitation in World War I came after Germany was de- feated, not during the war. If his tory should now repeat and if price control should be permitted to get out of hand, there might be ter rife kickback.
 If the Republican party should become known as the party that started the United States on the road to imitation, he G. O. P. would be worse off than it has ever been and it wouldn't have a chance in 1948.
 Viewed that way, the Republican strategy may be extremely short