Evening star., 1947-09-19
Continued From First Page.)

eliminate violent depressions but
apparently only at a cost of limited
production in which the average
standard of living is lower than the
average under our system.
Nevertheless I have felt that,
unless under our system we can pre-
vent the kind of hardship and suf-
fering we saw in the 30S, the people
might take the position that, re-
gardless of ultimate benefits, they
would try some system which did
not have to reach its goal through
periods of heavy unemployment
Mr.. Taft said that one of the most
difficult and important problems is,
the maintenance of farm prices in
proper relation with the price of
manufactured goods.
I'VE now have committee" he
said, working on a program toI
succeed the present program of
guaranteed prices (of farm products)
which comes to an end December
81, 1948."
ouAAAAA0A ACS DASIuSSIOhs
Summarizing his discussion of the
long range economic program, Sena-
tor Taft said:
I'VE are completely opposed to
the OPA theory which was, in effect,
dominated by the CIO-PAC philos-
ophy of detailed and unfriendly
control of the individual business
man and the individual farmer.
The Republican Party has al
ways stood for a higher standard
of living. In my opinion, no work.
man has ever been paid too much
for a days work well done, but
there is limit to the total produc-
tive capacity of the country and
therefore to his share of goods made
available. We cannot divide up
more than we make. The great
problem is to tune up our economic
machine and increase production.
That can only be done by more
productivity per man.
I'VE recognize that the Govern
ment must play part in helping to
make our system work, but we are
strongly opposed to measures which
eliminate the freedom of enterprise,
because we believe it has made the
United States the greatest and most
powerful Nation in the world and
a Nation which is the envy of the
entire world"
Trains Guns on Truman.
Training his guns on President
Truman, Senator Taft gave a de-
tailed argument and list of events
from the close of the war in an
effort to fix ON the Democratic
President responsibility for high
prices.
He charged that President Tru-
man had been responsible for the
speed with which price and wage
controls had been lifted. He charged
that President Truman had en-
couraged wage increases while he
(Truman insisted they could be
granted without forcing increases
in prices.
He accused the President of add
ing to the inflationary spiral bv
vetoing the tax reduction bills
passed by the Republicans and by
resisting Government economy and
insisting upon continued high ex-
penditures.
THE left wingers," said Mr.. Taft,
"are trying to put the burden of
these (high prices on the Repub-
licans. Who has been in control
Of this Government anyway for the
last 16 years?
High prices today are no sudden
emergency. They are the inevitable
result of the Roosevelt
policies since the beginning of the
war"
The basic difficulty, Mr.. Taft said
was the tremendous borrowing of
the war period following the re-
.peated deficits of the 30s.
Fifty billion dollars a year of
additional purchasing power was
created by the Government" he
continued, land much of this is now
coming into the market to force
prices up"
. During the war, he said, there was
price control and a less vigorous
control of wages. BY the end of the
war, wages were up considerably
more than prices. and the increased
-.