Evening star., 1946-10-15

troll on meat:
NY fellow countrymer:
I wish to report to you this eve.
ming on q subject which I am SURE
has concerned you as much as Il
has me-the meat shortage and oul
general sterilization program.
recognize the hardship thai
many OF you have undergone be.
cause OF the lack OF meat. I sym
pathize with the millions OF house
wives who have been hard pressed
to provide nourishing meals for theil
families. sympathize particularly
with our thousands Of veterans and
other patiente In hospitals through.
out the country. know that oul
children, as well rs those persons
engaged in manual labor, need n1eai
In their diet.
Many workers have been thrown
out Of work by the meat shortage
The by-products that result from
the lawful slaughter Of livestock arr
sorely needed. We depend upor
these by-products for insulin ant
other necessary medicines. We de.
pend upon them also for hides: ant
already some Of our shoe factories
are closing and workers are being
laid of for lack of leather.
Many of US have asked the sams
questions: Why should there be I
meat shortage when there are mil
lions of cattle and hogs on thu
ranges and farms and in feed lot,
| In this country? Who are the per.
sons responsible for this serious con.
dition? why doesn't the Govern.
.ment do something about it9
Real Story Is Simple.
I assure you that those question:
have been the concern of your Gov.
ernment for many weeks. The rea
story Is q simple one.
The responsibility rests squarel,
on q few men in the Congress who
in the service of selfish interests
have been determined for some time
to wreck price controls no matte,
what the cost might be TO oul
people.
The old price control act was dut
to expire on june 80, 1915. A,
long ago as nine months before II
expired urged the Congress to ex'
tend 1t right away In order to pro-
tect our people and prevent ruinoul
imitation. Four times more In ths
spring OF 1916, I urged the Congress,
to act promptly. Each time thu
Congress failed. and 1t continued
to delay taking action until tn.
very day the act expired. Then, .,
the 18th hour. the Congress passed
bill which could not sign mainly
because OF the Taft and Wherry
profiteering amendments. In the
interest Of the people prevent
legalized runaway infiation-1 hat
to veto that bill.
Price control therefore expired or
June 80. For weeks we were lef,
with no controls while the same
fewamen In the Congress again de.
bated how they could do lip-servict
to an anti-infiation program ant
still scuttle price controls-how they
could pass a so-called price contro
law and, at the same time, take care
Of the special interests they wanted
to enrich. Prices naturally soaret
during all this delay. The Congress
finally passed q bill which became
law on July as. Even In this seconc
bill, the same congressional grour
stripped the OPA Of the powe.
necessary for effective price control
| T signed this bill because 1t va!
perfectly clear that the Congress
would do no better.
In this second bill-and this Il
very important-the Congress di.
rected the removal Of price control,
on meat. and provided that they
could not be restored before Angus
20.
On August 20. the Price Decontro
Board, after Q hearing showing ths
necessity for price ceilings, restored
controls on meat. But almost TIVE