Milford chronicle., 1947-12-26

BY yielding to that temptation and pro-
posing "a cop in every kitchen" system of
controls as an integral part of his European
relief program, Mr. Truman has increased
dissension at home at time when national
unity should be primary objective 1t is con-
ceivable that, by introducing this compllca-
tion into the relief problem, he has rendered
a distinct disservice to those in need of relief
abroad
Only by assuming that Mr. Truman was
actuated by rather extreme brand of par
tisanship is it possible to find any logical basis
for his proposal to revive the discredited sys-
TEN of wartime controls over the nations
economy. If it be assumed that he was think
ing only in terms of partiSanship his prOpo-
sal makes some sense. Undoubtedly, Mr.. Tru-
man realized how remote were the prospects |
that Congress would give him the controls
he recommended
But he could have visualized the posSibil-
ity that a Congressional refusal might be
turned to his political advantage next year.
At least he could have visualized situation
in which he could assert that Administration
failures to check the inflationary spiral, set
off by its own bungling, were caused by the
fact that Congress had not needed his recon-
mendations
It is, of course, discouraging to assume
that President of the United States, in a.
time like the present, is actuated solely by
motives of selfish partisanship.
But, the even more dscouraging alterna-
tive is the assumption that he simply does not
know what he is talking about.
The cold fact is that our present serious
degree of imitation is the inevitable result of
the New Deal-DemOcrat Administration
policies over the past fourteen years - IN
FLATION OF THE CURRENCY through
deficit financing; CREATION OF SHORT
AGES by the outright destruction of food
stuffs and by tax policies calculated to dis
courage expansion of industry, to mention a
few
1t is also obvious that the controls which
Mr. Truman now proposes to re-eStablish are
essentially the same as those which we tried
and found to be Ineffective even in war time
Practically every item on Mr.. Truman's pro-
posed control program had been tried out by
his own Administration in recent years and
. discarded as unWorkable. There were one or
two exceptions, such as authority to control
exports which he now possesses, and which
has been exercised in recent months to permit
shipments of vital commodities to Soviet
Russia
The political significance of Mr.. Truman's
message is that he has cast his lot irrevocaby
with the left-wing groups. Had Henry Wal
lace, instead of Harry Truman, been Presi-
dent on November II, it is probable the
Presidential recommendations to Congress
would have been identical-with, of course.
the reservation that Mr.. Wallace would have
had In mind some objective other than curb
ing Communist expansion.
Mr.. Truman proposed totalitarian meth
DDS at home to curb totalitariansm abroad
Mr.. Wallace, it may be assumed would
have gone along with respect to the domestic
program.
THE TENNESSEE VALLEY AUTHOR
ITY was initially proposed as a "yardstick'
to measure the propriety of the rates charg-
ed by the private electric industry. AS es-
tablished, it is one of the phonieSt measuring
devices imaginable.
You don't have to take any private utility
spokesman's word for this. 1t is emphasized
in the last audit of IVA made by the General
Accounting Office of the u. S. Government
This audit cites series of reasons why
compared with a private power company's
operations"
IVA is not required to charge to power
operations depreciation on the cost of lane
rights, clearing transmission lines and res
ervoirs, and other related expenses. The
audit estimates this indirect subsidy a
$500,000 year.
IVA contributes relatively small sums
in lieu of taxes to state and local govern
ments 1t pays nothing in Federal income o.
other taxes. Private utilities, by contrast
pay substantially more than 20 per cent O
their gross income in taxes.
IVA has outstanding $56,OOO,OOO il
bonds, all held by the u. S. Treasury. l
pays only 1 per cent intereSt-far less thai
private enterprise can borrow money for
and less than the interest on Treasury bond
in the hands of the public. And it pays nj
interest on the additional $400,OOO,OOO tn
taxpayers have invested in it's power opera
tiOnS.
The audit lists many more reasons tina
show IVA is a crooked yardstick. The trutl
is that it is subsidized by all the people i
|, every phase of it's activities. 1t is leach o.
the public treasury-as are all the other sc
cialized power systems
&&@O&
THERE is A GREAT DEAL of interes
in WochinotOr orOucod bxy tho rrOcnoot Of