Evening star., 1948-11-04
Business Groups Fear
New Wave Of Reform
With Election Upset
Believe Trumon Hos Token
Position to Left After
Reading Compoisn Toiks
By David Laurence

shown declines because OF Tears
concerning the future trend of busi-
ness but, judging by the reports
reaching here in the last "a hours
from all parts of the country, many
businessmen are really worried.
They have read President Truman's
campaign speeches and now believe
he has taken such asposition to the
left" that an era of socialism and q
recurrence of New Deal reforms may
be the objectives Of the new admin
istration.
Businessmen are asking, for ex-
ample, whether the Taft-Hartley
Act is to be repealed, whether labor
is to be encouraged by the Presi-
dent to ask for higher wages. and
whether more strikes and work stop
pages are to ensue. Also, there Is
an apprehension that excess-prof1ts
taxes will be reimposed and that the
Federal budget will go deeply into
the red Notwithstanding return to
higher taxes. For Mr.. Truman has
promised more social security and
health programs, public housing,
and various Government subsidies,
to say nothing Of a huge program
of armament expense and interna-
tional aid.
Reinsurance Needed.
Naturally, if all these measures
were adopted, business would be
confused and would hesitate to 60
forward with the commitments pre-
viously made for expansion. No
more tragic sequel to the election
could be imagined than for busi-
nessmen to allow themselves to be-
come the victims of exaggerated
fears and back unwittingly into a
depression by hesitating to do those
essential things that would have
been undertaken If the Dewey ticket
had won. Maybe q word of re-
assurance from administration
spokesmen will become necessary to
get different psychology started.
For one thing, the administration
Is not going to have a free hand in the
next Congress Notwithstanding the
control Of both houses by the Demo-
cratic Party. Thus, the Republican
minority plus about 30 to IS Demo-
Gratis from the solid South can block
any repeal or modification of the
Taft-Hartley law. Some modiflca-
tions had already been promised
even by the authors Of the act, but
bill to emasculate the law is not
likely to get through the House Of
Representatives.
AS for an excess profits tax,
Senator George of Georgia, who is
to be chairman Of the Senate FL
nance Committee, and Representa-
tive Doughton, who is to mead the
House Ways and Means Committee,
know that a revival of the wartime
excess-prof1ts tax would bring on q
depression faster than anything
Congress could enact.
Likewise, If Congress passes price,
control. legislation of the wartime
sort and production has to be re-
>stricted, the country could witness
as q, consequence a wave Of layofs
and unemployment in major indus
tries. Certainly II the Democrats
expect, 18 months from now. to go
into the next congressional cam
paign with q chance Of maintain
ing their control, they will not want
to upset the business situation to
the point Of voting for measures
that will bring unemployment.
Actually, MIR. Truman's speeches
Of many varieties in the campaign
cannot be taken as O criterion Of
what Congress will do.
The so-called mandate which the
people gave in the election this
week will be widely discussed. Bas-
ically, 1t was a vote to maintain the
present prosperity if possible. Mr..
Truman won on almost the same
strategy that Woodrow Wilson and
his campaign managers used in
1915. In fact, on September q last
this correspondent sketched the
parallel between that campaign and
the 1948 campaign and pointed to
the substantially greater strength
which Mr. Truman enjoyed west
Of the Mississippi than in the East
ern States and warned then that
polls could lead to overconf1dence.
Should Thank Pollsters.
Many people will recall that virtu-
ally all the straw votes and forecasts
were wrong on election night Of 1915,
when the West, particularly Cali
fornia, swung the election and Will
son won with 277 electoral votes
one of the closest races in history.
II was peace and prosperity" then
that Influenced the West.
This time, high farm income in
the rural areas cut deeply into nor
NAL Republican voting in all sec
tions while high wages in the cities
gave the Democrats a record vote.
The labor unions saw to it that the
city voters went to the ballot boxes
The very polls that lulled the Re-
publican workers into a fancied Sc
curity stimulated the Democratic
workers, and especially Mr.. Truman,
to greater efforts. He may ridicLle
the takers of polls, but he wouldn't
have worked half as hard to win If
there had been forecasts in his
favor. Nor would millions of Re-
publicans have stayed away from
the polls with "let George do it"
spirit. The total popular vote will
be less than 1914, when there was
a war on and many citizens were
absent overseas. 1t will be less than
1910, when Willkie ran. Where were
the millions of voters who regis
tered but didn't vote? Why did they
abstain? This is a paradox of the
election.
If it hadn't been for the polls, Gov
Dewey himself might have made a
fighting campaign. So, all in all
Mr.. Truman should thank the poll
sters-and also those members OF
the Un-American Activities Commit
tee who made communism and the
Wallace cause so unpopular as te
drive almost all the Wallace vote
back into the Democratic Party
from which 1t had temporarily
strayed.
Elections are the ufeblood of thu
American system, and experience
proves that the winners are nevel
as dangerous as their opponent.
fhoirctf DURING tho 70 roY,o for, y,or q