Evening star., 1946-06-27
Labor Union Strategy
VirtuuIIy Killed OPA


Virtually Killed OPA
Failure to Hold the Line Sounded
Death Knell to Price Control
By David Laurence
These are days Of strange paradoxes.
Labor union leaders are crying out that
the OPA must be saved" when the
truth is that labor union strategy in
major industries has virtually killed
the OPA and brought on an unpar-
alleled wave Of imitation.
The moment one economic group in
the community insisted on forcing up
costs and threatened to paralyze pro-
duction and distribution unless its wage
demands were met and the moment the
President OF the United States failed
to hold the scales even and granted
wage-cost increases, the death knell of
effective price control in America was
sounded.
tinued Is secondary. The effect of the
amendments made to pending legisla-
ton is to permit producers to add wage
costs to their prices. So all the hula
baloo about Saving the OPA" is aca-
demic. Price control for all practical
purposes has been killed by the Pres
ident Of the United States through his
policy Of wage imitation.
Read Only Of Congress.
The country reads only what Con-
gress is doing at present. The Defend
ers OF the OPA program are criticizing
Congress and stirring up propaganda
from coast to coast to give the impress
sion that chaos will result If the OPA
bill is killed. There was a time quite
recently when many observers, includ-
ing this correspondent, believed that
runaway imitation might follow the
abolition Of the OPA. But the events
which the Nation has witnessed on the
labor front, where wage costs were
onacially boosted by the White House
and prices necessarily increased, make
the OPA and price control of much
less Importance.
The OPA should, Of course, be re-
tanned, but only as part of a national
program of fighting imitation by freezing
wage costs. But the President is too
timid about restraining the labor front
| from forcing runaway prices, and he
has thus contributed by his policy to
the infiationary trend. Hence, OPA
cannot prevent the price level from
rising any more.
The "black markets." which are -four
tshing, might have been broken up by
sensible program combining wage and
price control.
The effort to increase production by
means Of subsidies has not been as ef-
fective as its sponsors predicted. Short
ages are still prevalent and scarce
goods find their way to black markets.
Production in many lines is retarded or
stopped altogether because of OPA
rulings. Enormous losses have resulted.
The President will soon have to de-
eide whether to veto or sign the OI7A
| extension bill. He doesn't like the
measure, but If he wants semblance
OF price supervision and II he wishes
the OPA to remain as going concern
IN small way, he might better sign
the proposal. If he does veto it, the
measure probably will be passed over
his veto. II it isn't there is little
| chance for resolution to pass con-
tin,ung OPA as Is. This has been the
last resort hope of the administration
manipulators OF the OPA bill, but they
Will take big risk if they persuade the
President to veto the bill with that
move in mind.
Economic Groups Fight.
The problem is, to be sure, a contest
between economic groups, and recent
developments deserve to be studied as
an example OF what happens when a
| politically dominated democracy tries
controlled economy. In the first place,
the whole success Of any program of
restraint on prices or wages depends
On a bit of self-denial by all economic
groups, but 1t depends mostly on lead
ership that has the trust and conf
dence of the groups themselves.
Whatever confidence the MANAGE
ment groups had in the President was
gradually dispelled by his relinquish-
ment OF virtually all controls over
wages while he insisted on price con-
trols. Then, instead Of balancing the
economy by holding wages down, the
President capitulated to the cause of
political expediency. II there had been
IN the White House a man who could
have retained the confidence of all
economic groups, there would not be
any debate on OPA today. Public
opinion would have supported a con-
structive program. But the Presidents
own friends-the labor union leaders
who demanded substantial wage in
creases above prewar levels-really de-
stroyed the OPA.
No matter what diminished controls
are permitted now through an extern
sion Of the present law, price control
Is on the way out altogether. The con-
scientious work that many men did to
fight imitation through the OPA has
been rendered virtually useless by poll
tics in the White House and, of course,
by counterpolitics in Congress.
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