Milford chronicle., 1952-12-05
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THE FIRE CAUSES THE SMOKE

1000 store members, sent a long telegram
of cOngratulation to Dwight d. Eisenhower.
He advocated number of policies regarding
current major national problems and issues.
One of them was: "ShOuld imitation further
threaten Americas economic health, that
tried and proven fiscal measures be adopted
to combat the inflatiOnary forces, and that
direct measures or controls be imposed sole
ly in case of true national emergency, and
then only as part of an overall anti-infia-
tion program"
1t is tragic fact that up to now we have
totally failed to deal with the true causes of |
imitation. We have dealt only with their 1
symptoms primarily by imposing arbitrary
ceilings on the prices at which goods may be
sold. This has imposed heavy and costly I
burden on the manufacturer and the retailer, !
has in many cases disrupted the normal
processes of production and distribution, has |
further intensified the trend toward all-pOw-
erful government, and has resulted in far
more harm than good. An especially bad eff
feet has been to divert the attention of the
public from the sources of inflatiOn-Which
is much as if we paid attention only to the
smoke caused by forest fire and disregard
ed the blaze beneath.
Imitation comes mainly from financial
waste and extravaganza in government
from the endless creation of more and more
paper dollars with less and less substance
back of them. 1t comes from growing debts
and deficits - from government budgets
which can't be made to balance even with
taxes at a saupefying level. This is the most
important domestic problem with which the
next administration will have to deal.
SSONS
THE WAGE STERILIZATION BOARD
The folly of pretending that we can have
economic controls without setting up bar
riers between workers and their employers
was never more clearly demonstrated than
by the coal strike.
Refusal of the miners to accept deci-
sion by the Wage Sterilization Board was
the immediate cause Of the strike In dis
charging its duty of stabilizing wages so
that prices could be stabilized, the Board
ruled that the mine operators could not raise
wages quite as much as they had agreed to
do. This, according to the miners, "invalida-
ted" their contract and they walked out.
The root cause of this and many other
strikes that have plagued the country in re-
cent years is the mistaken belief that wages
and prices can be controlled without destroy
ing freedoms for which most Americans are
willing to fight.
Wage stabilization, by it's very nature,
necessitates government interference in the
relations between employees and their en-
plOyerS, and this in turn creates conflicts
which result in strikes. Yet, obviously, we
cannot have government fixing of prices un-
less wages also are fixed. Sooner or later
we will learn that the price we pay for the
temporary and doubtful benefits of economic
controls is much too high.
@S0ONG&
THE MOST IMPORTANT RIVER
The Roanoke River in Virginia isn't a
world famous or particularly impressive
stream. Yet it is likely to become the most
important river in this country! That is the
point of striking article in the November
issue of The Readers Digest by Jack Kilpat-
rick, editor of the Richmond News Leader.
And the reason for this, in his words, is that
eff the extreme theories advanced by the
Federal government for the Roanoke River
are upheld by Congress and the courts, no
body but the Federal government will ever
again build power plant on any important
stream in the United States"
The story is long and complex One but
the highlights can be briefly presented. -Four
years ago, a Virginia power company ap-
piled to the Federal Power Commission fOl
authority to build power dam on the ROa-
nOke. It's region needed the power, and il
was predicted that the generators would be
in operation by the end of 1851. But the In.
terror Department opposed the application
on the grounds that the entire Roanoke basin
was reserved exclusively for Federal power
development. Every conceivable argument
was used in an effort to substantiate this
view-including some that seem fantastic tt
the lay reader.
However, the Federal Power Commission
granted the license to the Virginia utility
Interior went to court. The FPC decision
was unanimously upheld by the U. S. Cour
Of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit. Now thu
matter has been taken to the Supreme Court
The needed power expansion has already
been blocked for years.
What is the significance of all this? Il
Mr.. Kilpatrick's words, Interiors argumen
in the Roanoke case amounts to urging tina
all major streams everywhere, regardless o
their relation to navigation or flood control
should be regarded as Federal property. B!
the same line of reasoning, no vein of coal o
acre of farm land is safe; there is no stopping
point short of complete Federal OWNERSHIP
Of all natural resources"