Evening star., 1946-06-30

| | ext OF FumQi
FOLLOWING is the tert OF Presi-
dent Trun,ans radio address last
night:
My fellow countrymen:
The crucial situation which con-
fronts our country requires that
report to the people this evening.
To-Day I returned to the Congress
without my approval the extension
OF the Price Control Law which il
presented to me for my signature.
I returned it with a long message
stating my reasons. hope that you
Will all read that message in your
newspapers.
I assure you. my fellow country
men, that before I vetoed this bill
I gave the subject long days ano
nights of consideration. I con-
suited with practically every tor
official in the Government. Eithe,
personally or through representa-
tlves I obtained the views of people
in agriculture, industry and labor
as we'll as many others.
Imitation Dangers Cited.
You have all heard a great deal
about imitation. Its seriousness can
not be over estimated. 1t would
affect every individual in our coun-
try. Initiation would cause an in
crease in the price of every article
you buy. AS prices scared with in
flation, your money would buy fewer
and fewer of the necessities of life
Your savings, your insurance, your
war bonds-all would decrease in
value.
For five years we have proved to
this country and to the world that
imitation can be prevented. Those
of you who remember the first
World War will recall the wild in
fation and the collapse that fol-
lowed. You will remember how
farmers were ruined, how business
men went bankrupt, how wage earn
ers suffered. This time we have
succeeded in preventing such a ca
lamity.
We have done this largely through
price control. 1t was not done by
miracle. 1t was done because the
American people had the wisdom
and the courage and the restraint
to know that they had to submit to
restrictions and controls or be over
come by the force of imitation. We
must continue to prevent imitation.
This is as important now and in the
months to come as it was during
the war. Time and again I have
stated and restated this PROPOSE
ton.
Wanted to Sign Bill.
I wanted to sign a price control
bill. I gave this bill long and care
full study. I came to the conclusion
that the bill which the Congress
sent me was no price control bill
at all. 1t gave you no protection
against higher and higher prices.
Having reached that conclusion, I
was faced with these alternatives
I could sign the bill on the plea
which had been made to me that
for the immediate present at least
it might be little better than MOTH
ing. Or 1 could dlsapprove the bill,
and call upon the Congress to give
the American people real, work
able price control law.
If I had taken the first course
and signed the bill. I would have
encouraged the false impression
that you were going to be protected
for the next year against excessive
price increases. But, sooner or
later, all of you would have awak-
ened to a bitter realization of the
truth. You woulS have soon begun
to see thousands and thousands of
price increases, adding billions and
billions of dollars to our cost of
living. 1t is hard to see how people
could continue to pay higher and
higher prices without requiring
higher wages or salaries The ire
mendous advances that we have
made toward the settlement OF
labor management disputes over
wages would have been wiped out.
The mad chase to imitation would
soon have been under way.
Took Second Alternative.
I could not permit that to happen.
I took the second alternative,
knowing full well all the dangers
which would come with it. l knew
that there was danger that the
Congress might not pass a resolu-
ton which would give us some kind
of protection after midnight tomor-
row when the present price control
law ends. l knew, therefore, that
it was very possible that for a few
days at least, We might be without
any price control law.
I could not bring myself to be-
lieve, however, that the representa-
tives of the American people-your
Senators and Representatives in the
Congress-would permit such a con-
dition to continue long. And l was
sure that when this issue was pre-
sented to the American people and
to the Congress there could be only
one answer. That answer is that
the Congress should Immediately
pass resolution continuing pres
ent price and rent controls until
the Congress can pass a workable
bill
1T would have been much easier
for me to sign this bill. But the
American people would have soon
realized that real price control was
at an end in spite of the law. If
had signed the bill the people
would have seen their prices going
up, day by day You would have
realized soon that the bill which
had been passed and called a price
control law was not price control
at all.
Warns of Disaster.
What I have done is to call a
spade a spade must now RELY
upon the American people and upon
q patriotic and cooperative Con-
gress to protect lis all from the
great pressures now upon us, lead
ing us to disastrous imitation unless
We have the means to resist them.
I know how weary you all are
OF these restrictions and controls.
l am also weary of them. I spend