Evening star., 1946-07-13
Move Planned
For Final Action
|0n 0PA Bill
House Group Moy
Meet Today to Speed
Naming of Conferees
By }. A. O'LeoY

The House Rules Committee
may meet this afternoon to speed
up the appointment of conferees
on the battered one-year extern
sion of price controls, which
passed the Senate at 2 am. today
by vote of 62 to IS.
Although Democratic leaders are
anxious to get the bill to conference
in the hope of knocking out all or
some of the everyday commodities
the Senate left free from any price
ceilings, some House members may
urge that body to accept the Senate
bill and send it directly to President
Truman
One prominent Republican, Repre-
sentative Halleck of Indiana, said
ne thought this is as good bill as
1t will be possible to get from the
Senate and that the issue should
be settled as quickly as possible to
end the present period of uncer-
talnty in the country as to whether
there will be any further price
control
The odds, however, favor House
appointment of conferees to get the
bill in more acceptable shape before
sending it to Mr.. Truman again.
OPA Backers Expect Veto.
Although the new one-year ex-
tension measure meets one of Presi-
dent Trumans chief reasons for
vetoing the earlier bill-by toning
down the Taft and Wherry profit
formulas. Backers of OPA at the
Capitol do not see how Mr.. Truman
could sign the Senate's new version
and justify his earlier veto of a
measure which kept ceilings on the
| food supply.
In the closing hours of Senate
debate, tobacco, grain, livestock and
poultry feed were added to the list
OF articles on which price ceilings
could not be restored That list all
ready contained meat. poultry, dairy
products, cotton seed, soy beans and
petroleum as long as supply meets
domestic demand.
Rent control would be revived
without change, except that OPA
would have to abandon Jurisdiction
| IN any State which passes its own
rent law. Throughout the emer-
gency the District has had a separate
rent act, which will continue through
1947.
Wolcott Favors Old Bill
One OF the first House reactions
was a suggestion by Representative
Wolcott of Michigan. ranking Re-
publican on the committee in charge
OF the bill, that the House might
try to substitute the original bill the
President vetoed two weeks ago.
Mr.. Wolcott said the vetoed bill
looked stronger than the new Sen
ate proposal
! While the Senate was passing the
skeletonized revival of OPA. its Ap-
! preparations Committee cut S5O.OOO.-
900 from the S106, 10000 the House
had allowed in the third deficiency
bill for operating the agency for the
new fiscal year. The final decision
on the appropriation is likely to de-
pend on whether both houses and
the President are able to agree on
new price control bill.
| The Appropriations COMMITTEES
wrote into the supply bill a provisio
for bidding any officials or employees
OF OPA to prepare or disseminate
any propaganda for continuation of
price control legislation.
Pepper Proposal Beaten.
/ Senator Pepper, Democrat. of
Florida, made one last effort last
night to re-establish OPA as it
existed on June 80. with only the
proposed independent Decontrol
Board added, but he was beaten.
81 to %. Senator Pepper told the
Senate the specific exemption in
the new bill would cost consumers
s4,700,0Oo,00O a year on grocery bills.
Senator O'Daniel, Democrat of
Texas, arch-enemy of OPA, had
threatened to delay the new bill
with further parliamentary maneu-
vers.. but contended himself with
40-minute speech at l. am, He
denounced the administration, and
! Se1AA an iiSpSd IllC D1ll "OulQ come
from House conference ON its pres
ent form so that Mr. Truman would
veto it again.
i Other Concessions.
j Other special concessions added
to the OPA bill by the Senate are:
A requirement that OPA give
Southern pine used for pulp the
same ceilings fixed for other Sec
tons.
! Prohibit OPA from making price
dlfferentials between cotton textile
firms which handle cotton from raw
to finished product and those which,
do not.
Forbid the Commodity Credit
Corp. from paying more than 3,675
icents a pound for imported sugar.
/ Allow at least current productio,,