Evening star., 1949-11-04
Strikes and Our Economy

Even If motivated primarily by political
considerations, President Truman appears
to have followed a sound course in refusing
to rush In with the Taft-Hartiey Act to
force settlement of the coal and steel
strikes. In trouble of this sort, it is always
best to defer Government intervention as
long as there Is possibility that the con-
tending parties may arrive at an agree
ment-op their own, through collective
bargaining-before their dispute builds up
into a national crisis.
Certainly, at least as far as steel is con-
cerned, events seem to have justified the
Presidents policy. With the Bethlehem
agreement, there is good reason to hope
that labor and management soon will
settle their differences throughout the in
dustry. And the fact that the situation
Is working out in that way, without q
Government breakdown, is better than
having solution brought about through
the semi-dictation of Federal intervention.
Accordingly, especially If the coal shut
down is ended in similar manner in the
next few days, Mr.. Truman will have a
right to feel that he has acted wisely in
not invoking the law.
The question remains, however, whether
the President was correct last week when
he declared that the crisis stage in the
coal and steel strikes was still long way
OH. What If no general steel agreement
were now in sight, and what If the coal
shutdown continues indefinitely? Can
such trouble drag on for weeks on end
without gravely affecting the economy of
the Nation? In making his comment the
other day, Mr. Truman seems to have been
bit on the optimistic side, the truth being
that there Is more than little reason to
believe that these two disputes
though one of them is apparently in the
process of complete settlement-have
already brought us close to real danger
point. ..
Thus, according to the Federal Reserve
Board, the creeping paralysis caused by
the strikes has had the effect Of greatly
curtailing our industrial production. In
deed, within the past month, that pro-
duction fell to its lowest level in three
and half years, dropping about 20 points
below the September figure, which was
u points above the 1859 average of 100.
This means, Of course, that employment
throughout the country declined proper
tionately-a decline supporting Commerce
Secretary Sawyer's prediction some weeks
ago that continuance of the disputes
would be directly responsible for throwing
100000 Americans out of work by
November l. 're
The fact is that coal and steel affect
virtually every segment of our economy.
Hence, when there is a protracted inter-
ruption in their production, the whole
country suffers. Railroads slow down,
manufacturing plants must either sharply
curtail output or stop it altogether, depart
ment stores and other retail outlets expert
ence a marked drop in sales, layoffs take
place on a constantly increasing scale,
and governmental tax revenues fall Off
a matter Of no small consequence in q
period of heavy deficits.
In the circumstances, it seems fair to
say that the President was on dubious
ground in recently belittling the serious
ness Of the situation. Actually, how many
weeks of declining production and rising
unemployment are really needed to bring
on a national crisis? What has already
happened to our economy strongly sug-
gests that Mr.. Truman tends to take q
too-cheerful view of such matters. Re-
gardless of the improved steel outlook,
the fact is that II the coal strike continues,
he may have to resort to the Taft
Hartley Act, after all-and soon.