Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1946-06-12

purpose are Frank X. Kent.
thus correctly reflected and the OPA
Act so trimmed as to make price
notwithstanding to him-unwork-
able and his stay in office impossible
the thing essential to his political
ambitions is a quick fulfillment of
his predictions. These have been
pretty dire.
Mr.. BowleS is an able advertising
man and knows the publicity bust
ness through and through. While
OPA director and since as economic
stabilizer there has flowed from his
Office a stream of publicity of greater
power, volume and cost than from
any other Washington source.
Publicity Necessary.
This is not said in criticism. Pub
licity was essential, not only for
public understanding but to get pub
lie sentiment behind his program
If there seemed a slightly greater
personal touch to the BoWles pub
licity than is usual, that can be set
down to MI. Bowles' personal en-
thusiasm for the job and the neces-
stiles of the fight. At any rate, it
must be admitted that the BowleS
publicity was pretty effective. He
not only put his STORY" over with
a fine flourish, but he swung to his
support quite a few of the left-wing
journalists, who glowingly pictured
him as the champion of the people
upon whom rested their hope to
avert truly ruinous initiation.
In any struggle as hot as this has
been over the OPA, the chief figures
are bound to go to extremes in their
publicity. They picture splendid re-
suits If their side wins and exceed
ingly bad ones if it loses.
Both Mr.. Bowles and his friend
the able and amiable Mr.. Paul
Porter, director of the OPA, UNI
doubtedly have gone pretty far in
their forecast of the dread conse-
quences of OPA "emasculation. "
Perhaps 1t was necessary to make
opponents of OPA continuance ap-
pear villainous and their success a
calamity. At any rate, they both
got rather far out on the limb in
this respect. So far out, In fact,
that If, following the scuttling of
the act, Mr.. Bowles-and Mr.. Por-
ter-make good on their widely ad-
vertised designations, a very sharp
rise in prices and a very much
greater degree of imitation must
Immediately occur to justify their
position.
Certainly, If Mr.. Bowles becomes
candidate and none of the I'M
pleasant things he has predicted
comes to pass, his candidacy would
fall rather fat. He would not be
able to say to the voters that it
was now proved that he knew what
he was talking about and there
fore was the right man to represent
them. On the contrary, his op-
ponent could and would charge that
he had been talking through his hat.
Affects Candidacy.
II the threatened "emasculation"
is finally achieved, it is to be hoped
it will turn out that Mr.. Bowles
was mistaken and his opponents
more nearly right. Of course, there
will be rise in prices and more
imitation. But, unless the rise is
very steep and the imitation of a
runaway character, 1t will not JUS
tify Mr.. Bowles. For those things
would have occurred If he had
gotten all he asked
The truth is-and Mr.. Bowles is
much too intelligent not to know it
that all hope Of keeping the cost
Of living down and avoiding inf1a-
ton went out the window when the
Roosevelt administration refused
to put a ceiling on wages To con-
troll prices without controlling
wages is an economic impossibility
as pointed out by B. M. Baruch
back in 1912 and many times since.
1t was also purely political de-
cision by Mr.. Roosevelt.
OF course, you can make a bluff
at keeping prices down while wages
go up. And Mr. BoWles has made
a rather good bluff. But, it can't
be done-and 1t is not in the least
right to ascribe further rises to
failure of Congress to take the
Bowles view on OPA legislation.
Prices have been rising pretty