The Wilmington morning star., 1946-03-25
Battle of The Bulge
BY ARTHUR KROCK

WASHINGTON, - When the administration
sanctioned the recent rise in the price OF steel
to make it possible for the industry to increase
wages without running at heavier loss the
official comment was that no break" in the
economic sterilization line" had occurred,
only managed ''bulge." If the bulge were
contained as it is, this explanation continued,
the essential line could be held against infla-
ton.
Now, a few weeks later, the prevailing view
is that the expected battle of the bulge has be-
gun under the leadership of John L. Lewis,
who is seeking wage increases and other con-
ceSslons for his bituminouS coal miners. Mr..
Lewis, say veteran observers OF his tactics, is
out to enlarge the bulge we'll beyond the present
Ii 1-2-cent area, and that by the testimony OF
the administration itself, will in effect be a
break in the line
Athwart that line stands prominently its most
articulate defender, Chester Bowles, the direc-
tor of the Office of Economic Sterilization. viii
he be captured by Mr.. Lewis and transformed
into tractable prisoner OF war? Or will he die
(oficially) in front Of his base Of supplies?
These questions are interesting Washington
greatly because of various statements attribut-
ed to Mr.. Bowles by his friends when he was
induced to agree to the $5-a-ton rise in the price
Of alloy as we'll as carbon steel, to balance the
10 1-2-cent-an-hour wage increase, and it was
the consequence and not break in the line.
1t was then said on behalf of Mr. Bowles that
if Mr.. Lewis broke the line-the expression was
''it there is another sell-out Of stabilization'-
the director Of the OES would bid the admins
tration farewell and leave to others what was
left Of the struggle against initiation He likes
Washington and he likes public office, and in
his present capacity Mr.. Bowles can enjoy both
at the same time. But despite this nurnured
the echoes, he would not continue longer to be
an officer Of President Truman. He might re-
main at his home across the Potomac from the
capital ard gloomily survey the subsequent
train Of events Or he might return to Connect
cut to seek public office, and thus recover at
least one Of the two estates he re1ishes. But out
Of the administration he then would 60.
Mr. Bowles has said nothing publicly Of this
kind, and it may be-as so often happens In
Washington-that his intentions are not being
accurately represented Officials threaten to re-
sign Ear oftener than they give up office, and
the director Of the OES, when he was head Of
the OPA, sometimes was heard to voice inten-
tons Of this nature. But each time he was sue
.cessfully urged to keep to his task, among the
arguments being that Mr.. Bowles is TO the
American consuming public the official SYM
Dol Of restrained prices and is therefore of
psychological as we'll as practical value to the
government.
Thus he moved gracefully backward to the
boundaries of the bulge. and there he stands
watching Mr.. Lewis. It is an entertaining
drama that he and others are beholding as the
miners boss goes through his old troupers
routine with the coal operators. But If it ends as
usual, with the heavy leading man bestriding
the fallen forms Of government and industry
and the curtain slowly falling to valedictory
of sesquipedalan prose, the drama can finish
as tradegy for the antiinf1ation eorces For
if Mr.. Lewis accepts wage increase for his
miners that will really net no more than rival
union leaders have won for their workers in
steel and automobiles it will be the first time
he has been willing to conform to a pattern.
Suppose Mr.. Bowles and his co-defenders of
the bulge cannot stop the Old Master at the
line they have drawn and called ultimate. Will
the director of the OES then resign, and will
the whole system Of controls begin to disappear
with him? That remains to be seem There are
political ways to deal with statistics which can
produce alibis for every one but the ultimate
consumer, Mr. Bowles included if he wants to
be. Every administration has an elastic yard
stick which it can bring out to prove anything
in figures: that it is saving money When it
isn't, that the public debt is less than it is that
in general two and two add up to three instead
Of four. Mr.. Lewis can really shatter the bulge
and break the line, but with this elastic yard
stick it can be demonstrated that neither has
happened.
To illustrate, it can be recalled that i'll the
last two administrations various pronounce
ments Of policy and principle have been made
which events have belied, but to this day that
is not officially admitted. One was that the
government would never order closed shop,
yet it did. Another was that wage disputes
would be LEFT to collective bargaining, but the
prevailing IS IL cents increase in industry was
set by the President This, especially for in
dustry, has amounted to compulsory arbitra-
ton, yet no official acknowledgment will ever
be made that this is 50.
With figures the job Of concealing the net
result is even easier, and the government en-
p1oys many talented statisticians who can sus-
pend the workings of addition and multiplca-
ton without any strain at all on their faculties.
The complicated tables dealing with wages and
allowances in the coal industry invite the wild
est exercise of these statistical gifts. - New
York Times.
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