Evening star., 1946-08-16
Board Issues Warnine
Against Speculation
On Price Decision
BY the Associated Press

Win curt warning against
trying to guess what it will do
about price controls on major
foods and feeds, the Price De-
control Board promised today to
announce its verdict Tuesday.
ANY past speculation as to our
decision or any speculation be-
tween now and next Tuesday is
pulled out of thin air" said Chair
man Roy L. Thompson in state
ment for the three-member board.
During the five days remaining,
the new independent agency must
reach decisions that Congress could
not agree on for weeks as it let OPA
die June 80 and then revived it in
sharply modified form July 25.
/ Since June 30 there have been no
price ceilings on milk butter. meats,
grains and long list of foodstuffs
for trial period that ends next
Tuesday, August 20.
100 Witnesses Heard.
Unless the panel steps in, the old
price lids will apply again Wednes-
dav.
/ For the last four days the board
listened to more than 100 witnesses
argue why it should OF should not
act.
In announcing that the board will
hand down its ruling "on the night
OF August 20 Mr.. Thompson added:
In order to avoid any possible
nconveniences in commodity mar
/ keis and affected industries, the
board will release simultaneously
Its decisions on all commodities un-
der consideration"
Specifically, these are grains. live
stock, cottonseed and soybeans. and
dairy products.
Mr.. Thompson said that while the
board has asked other Government
agencies for information, we did
not ask any Government agency
for any recommendations as to what
it believes the board should do"
Interpreted as Rebuke.
ms was widely interpreted as a
mild rebuke to two members of the
Wage Sterilization Board, w. Will
ard Wirtz and Phillip l.. Garman.
who made public a recommendation
during the hearings that prices be
restored to June 80 levels and that
subsidies be restored to help battle
initiation
Senator Taylor Democrat. of
Idaho, one of the last witnesses
before the board late yesterday. said
Congress had passed the buck" to
/ the panel and suggested that if
members feel the board will not
be able to stem imitation they should
so tell President Truman and then
do the courageous thing" and
resign.
I Senator Taylor, along with CIO
President Philip Murray and other
spokesmen for labor and consumer
groups. said the board should re-
store all price ceilings and subsidies
II the Nation is 10 avoid imitation.
On the other side, nearly every
witness for farmers, producers, busi-
ness and industry insisted that the
only cure for present reconversion
ills is continued freedom from Gov
ernment controls and subsidies.
! Mr.. Murray urged the board to
roll back prices to the June 30
level and use subsidies to try and
keep prices down. He said increases
in food. clothing and other living
essentials had eaten up all the
wage increases granted labor this
year, and more.
Prices Up q Per Cent Since June.
{ Meanwhile. the Bureau of Labor
Statistics reported that food prices
III wholesale markets We're 27 per
cent higher during the week ended
August 10 than at the end of June.
The wholesale price index on
August 10 was 1911 per cent of the
1926 average, a rise of IT per cent
from the preceding week This was
4.53 per cent higher than the CORE
spending week of 1887 and 80 per
cent higher than the August, 1929.
level.
The report did not say what part
of the increase is due to termina-
ton of Government subsidies.
The bureau said the index. which
covers industrial products in addi-
ton to food, was 1873 per cent higher
than before temporary suspension
of OPA controls July l and 205 per
cent higher than at the end of the
war one year ago.