The Butler County press. [volume] (Hamilton, Ohio) 1900-1946, 1946-07-19
NEWS AND VIEWS
BY ALEXANDER s. LIPSETT
(An ILNS Feature)

While the sudden demise of the
OPA has brought some sporadic price
increases, the dire forecasts of the
Administration that the price level
would sky-rocket and the national eco-
nomic structure be plunged into chaos
have not come to pass. 1t is comfort
ing to keep this fact in mind in the
face of a propaganda barrage which
-unintentionally, of course-threat-
ened to stampede the American peo-
pie into buying panic and thus to
provoke exactly the conditions at
which the presidential veto was appar-
emily aimed.
Granted that few days are hardly
sufficient to judge the trend Of an
economy suddenly deprived of direc-
tion and governmental controls,
Americans - manufacturers, workers,
wholesalers, retailers, and the con-
suming public alike-have good rea-
son to confratulate themselves on
their common sense and collective
ability to keep the situation in hand.
But these being hot and uncom-
Portable days, we shall leave the ex-
planation of the OPA tangle to the
experts and take plunge into the
past. For it is historical fact that
price controls similar to the OPA were
attempted on our shores as far back
as the Revolutionary War. The re-
suits were equally unsatisfactory, to
say the least.
Those who see in every critic of
OPA and governmental regulations
a potential fascist and economic roy
alist will perhaps be interested to
know that the founders of our repub-
lie were worried over threatening in
flation and runaway prices. They de-
voted good part of their time to a
debate of these and related issues.
Finally, on April s, 1778, the Cont
mental Congress reached the follow
ing remarkable conclusion:
'It hath been found by experience
that limitation on the prices of COM
modities is not only ineffective for
the purpose proposed, but likewise
productive of very evil consequences
to the great detriment of the public
service and grievous oppression of in
dividuals."
These are wise words. Now let us
look at the twentieth century and
the inflationary turmoil which fol-
lowed the first world war. AS will
be recalled by our older readers, there
existed then no government price con-
troll agency on the order of the OPA.
Price control had been exercised dur
ing the war by the War Industries
Board. It's authority had ended au-
tomatically and overnight with the
Armistice.
What happened then? Prices, as
was to be expected, got out of hand
They climbed to point where they
became unbearable to the masses of
American wage earners and consum-
ers. What did they do? They did
not yell for government control and
the appointment of snoopers behind
every store counter. They simply
started what may be called today
consumers strikes, but were then in
their overwhelming majority unor-
ganized actions of average Americans
sufficiently provided to take things
into their own hands.
The results of the tacit agreement
not to buy more than was actually
needed were as drastic as they were
immediate and far-reaching. A down
ward curve of prices set in. This was
followed by a panic market by un-
employment, apple selling in the
streets and other features familiar to
an economic crisis.
Let us hope that both the good and
bad features Of that lesson will be
remembered by the advocates of radi-
cal action. By and large, it seems to
this writer, overall control of rents
and prices of certain goods is still
very much needed. Every effort should