Milford chronicle., 1951-10-26


for such schemes is that poor people can't |!
get decent medical care. That is very large |
ly untrue-under private medicine, splendid
progress has been made in providing doctor
services and disqualification at little or no
cost to those who lack the money. All realize
that still more must be done in this direction.
But surely it is not necessary to destroy our
medical system-and to under
mine our national fiber and characterize aid
the very small percentage cf our people who
are INDECENT Britain's sad experience should
be our guide
MUST WE LEARN THE HARD WAY?
Thomas Paine and George Washington
were well informed on the effect of the nat
ural laws of supply and demand on the flow
of commodities. In letter on the efforts
of those in government to force price con-
troll, Paine said: "They may force the price
down upon the stock in hand, but after that
the market will be empty. / will give you
an example. In Philadelphia we undertook,
among other regulations of this kind, to
regulate the price of salt; the consequence
was that no salt was brought to market, and
the price. rose to 36 shillingS sterling per
bushel. The price before the war was only
one shilling and sixpence per bushel; and
we regulated the price of flour till there was
none in the market, and the people were
glad to procure it at any price.
In the same letter he added, ''The people
of Paris may say they will not give more
than certain price for provisions, but as
they cannot compel the country people to
bring provisions to market the consequence
will be directly contrary to their expectations,
and they will find dearneSs and famine in
stead of plenty and cheapness".
We are in no greater predicament today
than the country was during the American
Revolution when it found no comfort in the
regulation of prices. Government sDOkesmen
seem determined to pursue the fallacy of
trying to regiment prices and dictate to the
producer and distributor what their reward
shall be. Contrasting 1776 with 1851, the
Barnstable Patriot of Hyannis, Massachu-
setts, saws: eff the present attempt to foo
the people while the value of our currency is
destroyed is not soon abandoned, Congress
will learn the hard wav of the truth Of Paine's
and WashingtOn's judgment of price con-
trols".
IMMORTALITY IN PUBLIC LIFE
There is no evil so readily understood OF
so quickly repudiated by the American elec
tOrate than immortality in public Office II
was a Democratic PreSident-GrOVer Cleve
land-whO proclaimed that public Office il
a public trust. The recent disclosure of ir
regularities, influence peddling and various
unsavory practices in the Internal Revenue
Bureau, the Reconstruction Finance Corpora
tion, and other government departments have
come as profound shock to every thought
full American Like termites in a house
these evils gnaw away at the very fOunda
tions of the nation. This is not just matte
of bribes and other clearly illegal acts. TIL
law can deal with them But there are ceI
tain bOrderline practices which are beyond tn
reach of law, and which lie within the realr
of human conscience. In the recent investi
cations, men of great political power, VIII
used that power to influence the policies Q
government bureaus, said that they violate
no law. That may be true-but they di
something as bad or wOrse-they violate
every concept of decency, morality, and hOr
or in government. This is not partisan maj
ter. The DID, degrading techniques of city
machine politics have been brought to Wasl
ington. The flies have found the sugar tn
American people must make it unmistakabl
plain that, in the conduct of their gOvernmer
they demand Old-fashiOned honesty, oil
fashioned decency, and Old-fashiOned mora
ity.