Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1946-02-16
No Retreat Pledged
By BowIes in Fight
Against Initiation
BY Joseph H. Baird

Assurances to the American people
that there will be no retreat by the
administration to new lines" in the
battle against imitation have come
from Chester Bowles, newly named
economic stabilizer, at the very
opening of his tenure of office.
Addressing a testimonial banquet
given in his honor by the National
Lawyers Guild at the Mayfiower
Hotel last night, Mr.. Bowles, who
ended 30-months term as the head
Of OPA to accept his new post.
declared:
There are some bulges in our
lines, but they will be Strengthened
out. There will be no retreat"
During the evening, Mr.. Bowles
heard his record as price admins
traitor praised lavishly by Secre-
tary of Commerce Wallace, ATTORNEY
General Robert w. Kenny of Cali
fornia, president of the guild; Will
liam w. Wyatt, newly appointed
housing administrator, and Senator
Wagner, Democrat, of New York,
through a message read by his son,
Robert W. Wagner, jr.
"Brickbats Inevitable"
Declaring that price control has
been a prime controversial subject"
Mr.. Bowles, veteran of many ad-
ministrative battles, concluded that
some "brickbats were inevitable"
American businessmen" he OBJ
served, do not take readily to reg
ulation. Some do not understand
the dangers facing us. Some of the
1unatic fringe even believe that
price control is part of a plot
to turn the Government over to the
Communists or is even a threat to
American womanhood."
During the war years, Mr.. Bowles
explained, there was inevitably a
great amount of regulation and now
that the fighting is over and the
"unifying effect" of war has gone
some letting off steam" is under
standable.
And" he observed with a smile,
there will be more of it."
However, he went on to say that
he had great faith in the good
sense" of the American people and
their understanding of the necessity
Of emergency controls in the battle
against imitation.
Sees Courage Restored.
81 think" he said, that the Amer
lean people will not accept going
back to preWar conditions. We had |
lost confidence in ourselves. The
war has done much to restore our
courage. We have learned what
our industrial and farm machine
can do"
Mr.. Bowles said he did not be-
lieVe farmers were willing to GO
back to an eVerage annual income
of $500, or labor to ST 200, or business
men to a, system of recurring de-
pressions. Millions of soldiers who
have enjoyed good food and medical
care for the first time in their lives
will not be willing to return to pre-
war conditions, he observed.
This country knows where it is
going" he continued, and it Is on
its way. The answer to our eco
nomic problem is full production,
and under it every group will be
better off than before III.
HE said he had infinite faitha In |
where the people are going to take
U.s." adding that I'VE can't get there
without a successful battle against
nf1ation-and that battle is not won
yet"
Wyatt Defends Subsidies.
Mr.. Wyatt, referring to his plan
for building some 100000 homes
tmostly under the $4,000 leveD dur
Ing the next two years, admitted
that it was a formidable task, but
that he believed labor and industry
could do it. Returning veterans,
he said, had right to expect de-
cent housing and the emergency
program is directed primarily toward
meeting their needs.
Defending subsidies for low-cost
housing, Mr.. Wyatt said the general
level of home prices already was too
high and that raise through all
brackets was unjustified. He recalled
that in 1856, when housing costs
reached a peak, a decline in con-
struction was the result.
Praising Mr. Bowles' record in
OPA, Secretary Wallace said that he
had so far won victory over an
enemy almost as dangerous as the
Axis" meaning imitation.
I'VE must not weaken imitation
controls now" he declared, recalling
that the most serious imitation of
quarter of century ago came not
during but after the World War.
I'VE must continue price controls,
he concluded, for at least one year
from lime IN"