Evening star., 1948-10-31
De1uey improves His Chances
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would retrench was to charge tn,
existence Of a "top-heavy bureauc'
racy." The forthcoming report O
the Hoover Commission on Reor
ganization would give Mr.. Dewey
an opportunity to show how h,
would approach that problem, bu
experience has shown Congress viii
have more to say about this thar
the White House. In the past, i
has approved many plans for tn,
reshuffling of agencies, but has beer
slow to abolish functions completely
which is necessary to effect any rea
saving.
| On debt retirement he was NOR
specific. He urged particularly s
reduction in that part Of the deb
held by the banking system.
He called for tax revision ito en-.
courage savings and stimulate pro.
duction," but left plenty of latitude
to determine later what he means
by revision
One point he made clear in dis.
cussing imitation, namely, thai
whatever measures we take, We
must keep it firmly fixed in oul
minds that our purpose is to contro
infiatien, not to bring on deflation.
Price Control
A greater volume Of production
to meet the demand for goods was
the chief remedy he proposed, after
rejecting what he called trick de-
vices" and police state" methods
He coupled price control with in
flation and repeated the same three
antidotes Government economy
debt reduction and tax incentives te
stimulate production.
The Republican nominee told his
audiences price levels are not q
political problem, but an economic
one. They are high today, he
argued. primarily because of the
terrific cost of the war" and the
current large expenditures for ma.
tional defense and to help free ma
tions get back on their feet in the
interest nf mona
Labor
In his Pittsburgh speech Gov
Dewey defended the Taft-Hartley
law as necessary to make the
Wagner Act "a better law. for meet
ing the problems of today. He said
the new law is not perfect" anc
added: 1T can always be improved
and wherever and whenever IL
needs change, 1t will be changed.
In this case. also, he left the specific
changes to be worked out if he
becomes President.
He reminded the voters that both
the Wagner Act and the Taft.
Hartley law were passed with the
support Of both major parties in
Congress, and he pointed out also
that President Truman's admins
tration mas used the emergency
provisions of the new law seven
times. In all but one of those
cases, the dispute was settled before
the emergency period ended, he
said.
Gov. Dewey also promised firm
supports under wages" and called
the present minimum wage ,au
far too low" He promised to raise
it, leaving the rates for later dis
cussion.
He promised to make the Labor
Department equal in status with
Commerce and Agriculture.
Social Security
I'VE will overhaul the Social
Security System for the unemployed
and the aged, and go forward to
extend its coverage and increase its
benefits" the New York Governor
promised. Here again, the details
were left for negotiation with Con-
gress, which has been putting of
systematic extension of coverage for
several years.
He was specific, however, in pro-
posing to create a new Department
of Social Progress, to give cabinet
status to the agency in which all
welfare programs would be grouped
Housing
I'VE will break the log jam in
housing, so that decent houses may
be provided at reasonable cost for
our people," said the Republican
nominee.
While he did not dwell on the
controversial details of the Taft
Ellender-Wagner bill, his supporters
contend that New York States rec
ord under his leadership indicates
ne would, as President, deal Wig
orously with the problem. They
point to State appropriations since
1945 to provide housing for $4,000
veterans, and say he also moved
forward with the States permanent
low-rent housing activities.
Atomic Energy
On this important subject Gov.
Dewey drew distinction between
GovernEent monopoly for military
purpose and the private enterprise
system for full utilization Of its