Milford chronicle., 1946-02-15

If THERE WERE any lingering doubts
that President Truman had decided to ally
himself and his political fortunes with the
left-wing oligarchy Of the New Deal those
doubts must have been dispelled by the events
of the past month.
The President himself in his book-length
message to Congress January 10 provided the
clnching evidence In that message, the
President combined the usual annual State
of the Union" report and budget estimate
for the next fiscal year.
The Legislative part Of the message was
not startling, though from the standpoint Of
the nations welfare it could well be deemed
depressing. 1t was a warming over Of all Of
the vOte-catching proposals which he and his
predecessor have been trying to force
through rebellious Congress dominated by
members of their own party) for months.
1t was in the budget report that the PreSl-
dent really showed his hand. He proposed
expenditures for the peace-time fiscal year
beginning July /, aggregatlng approximate
ly thirty-siX billion dollars. That is just
about four times the amount Of the previous
peace-time budget Fiscal year 19lD asked
by the late President Roosevelt, who was
never accused of parismony with respect to
spending public money.
Furthermore Mr.. Truman admitted he
sees no chance of spending less than 25 bill
lion dollars per year during the remainder
of his term.
But that is not ALL Students of budgetary
affairs were quick to point out that if the
President has his way the total of the 1917
budget will be far more than $4,000 900.
Omitted from the estimates sent to Congress
were such items as loans to foreign govern
mentS, both those actually proposed and
those understood to be in prospect.
Who remembers how Mr.. Truman last
spring promised economy in Government?
Do coID., TIO TV1II,1 \ ri
minstr7tion seeks to retain power by con-
tinuing the halloWed New Deal system of
using the Federal Treasury as q campaign
fund-thuS following the course chartCd by
other nations in which descent to one form
or another of totatarianism was always pre-
ceded by Il disruption of the nations fnan-
cial system.
That the Presidents course was approved
by the left wing was evident quickly.
On January II, just two days before the
Presidents message was delivered to Con-
greSS (but after it had been written and
printed) the White House calling list in
cluded the name of Sidney Iillman, Chair
man Of the c. |. 0. Political Action Commit
tee.
On January %, two days after the mess
age had been delivered, Mr.. lIillman sent a
public message to Mr.. Truman congratulate
ing the President on his handling of labor
problems (there were then about 800 900
workers on strike) and pledgng the p. A. C.s
"fullest support"
All of which adds up to the conclusion
that Republican members Of Congress knew
whereof they spoke when in declaration of
aims and purposes adopted last December
they stated:
"Today'S MAJ jOr domestic issue is between
radcaliSm, RECOMMENDATION, all-pOWcrfu bu-
reaucracy, class exploitation, deficit spend
ing and machine politics, as against our be-
lief in American freedom for the individual
under just laws fairly administered for ALL
preservation of local home rule, efficiency
and pay-aS-yOu-gO economy in government
and the protection of the American way of
life against either faSciSt or communist
trends"
The issue has been drawn.
A~e~~
THE CONTROVERSY over wages and
prices is paralyZing the country. The Situ-
alton calls to mind the words Of the editor
who said, more than two years ago: "SOmc-
time in the not-too-dstant future we at
home are going to find out what total war
means, even though we may never feel the
impact OF bombs on our cities. A pretty good
indication of how we are going to ind out
can be seen III the gusts of bitter controversy
sweeping through the land over STRIKES taxes
subsidies and initiation. They are the prelude
to the storm. When it hits in full fury. the
test of our love of freedom will be upon us. ="
The storm has not hit in full fury even
yet, but as it builds up, as the terrific cost
OF total war begins to be felt, far too MANY
people are seeking the "protection" of gov
ernment by decree. Their eyes are fixed ON
the prlce-wage storm. They fail to recog-
nlze the deadly menace of oppression at their
side Those who question the advisability of
continued rigid price control and all the other
antl-lntlation paraphernalia, as a matter of
principle, are looked at askance and are re-
minded that the country will not tolerate the
threat of rising prices
Suppose this kind Of chicken-hearted rea-
soning had been indulged in by the men at
the front who learned about total war the
hard way? Suppose those men whose lives,