Evening star., 1945-11-01
Mr.. Trumun's Dilemma

Boiled down to its essentials, the
Presidents latest statement of his
administrations e-price policy is
a well-intentioned appeal for accept
ance of the Golden Rule in indus
trial disputes. But it is difficult not
to wonder whether his is a voice
crying in the wilderness.
Mr.. Truman wants the representa-
tives OF labor and management to
sit down at the conference table and
work out their own problems. If
they will be sensible and reasonable
about the matter. he believes. the
problems will be solved and at will
not be long before we have put in
dustrial strife behind u.s." Theo-
retically. that should be so-but the
labor management picture being
what it is. we are not apt soon to
move into the industrial utopia
which Mr.. Truman seems to envi-
sion.
The President, in sense, is pris-
oner OF desires that are hard to
reconcile. He is anxious that labor
should retain some portion of the
purely artificial prosperity which
was induced by the war, and to this
end he says that wage increases are
imperative" He is anxious to avoid
price increases which would lead to
imitation, although he acknowledges
that some price increases must be
approved If wages are raised. He
realizes that unreasonable wage de-
mands would stifle industrial expan-
sion and create unemployment. He
is anxious to avoid that. And, above
all, perhaps, he is anxious to get
away "as quickly as possible" from
Government controls and return to
the free operation of our competitive
system.
How are all of these desires to be
satisfied? Mr.. Truman suggests no
specific formula, for quite obviously
there can be no such thing as a
formula that could be applied evenly
throughout our varied industrial
structure. So the President, as his
basic recommendation, proposes that
the problem be returned to labor
and management, and that they
work 1T out between themselves.
Unfortunately, If experience means
anything at all, it is not as simple
as that. There is little evidence that
labor and management are disposed
to listen to the Presidents counsel.
Yet II these parties to the collective
bargaining process fail to agree, Mr..
Truman cannot sit back and let
nature take its course, for the Presi-
dent, as the leader of all the people,
must consider the welfare of an i'm
portant third party to collective
bargaining-the American public.
In any major strike today 1t is the
public which suffers most, for the
Nation cannot keep going without
such things as coal and oil and steel.
When national paralysis threatens,
the Government has to step in to
protect the public interest. And it
is becoming clearer each day that.
unless there is a notable change for
the better in industrial relations. Mr..
Truman's administration is going to
be faced with the necessity of seek
ing legislation to compel both man
agement and labor to subordinate
their individual interests to the well
fare of the United States. That. in
turn, would mean more rather than
fewer of the Government controls
which Mr.. Truman is so anxious to
avoid. But the Presidents dilemma.
though not of his making, is in
escapable. He is the unfortunate
heir to an improvised and lopsided
labor policy which cannot be made
to fit our present needs, and which.
therefore, will have to be drastically
revised.