Evening star., 1952-08-31
Price Rise or Not?
Government Launches New Program to Prove
ArnuIFs Dire Predictions Are Wrong
By Edwin Ware HuIIinqer

With the high cost of living bulk
ing larger all the time as an active
campaign issue, the Government
moved this week end to bridge over
the rift in the official policy front
caused by the debate" between
Secretary Of Commerce Sawyer and
retiring Price Administrator Ellis
Arnall. A new program was started.
which, it is hoped, will keep finger
in the dixie for the time being.
MIR. Arnall's replacement was not
expected to take up the line Of his
predecessor, that the steel strike
settlement would cost 500 family,
or that q special session of Congress
might become necessary to deal with
the price problem4 And neither Act
ing Defense Mobilizer John r. Steel
man nor Economic Stabilizer Roger
Putnam shared Arnall's gloomy out
look.
Arnall's final act as price boss was
to initiate the new series OF moves.
He announced that in few days the
OPS will issue a "pass-through"
who use steel, copper or aluminium
to raise their prices to the extent Of
the actual increased costs Of these
three materials.
lsolotionist Policy
The ONCE Of Defense Mobilization
believes it may be possible to
isolate the effects of these price
rises to the processing firms who use
the three metals as their major
fabricating materials. That, at least.
is the aim Of the "pass-through"
measure.
The first order will not allow any
markup for increases in freight or
labor costs, but Arnal said a direc-
tive Is being prepared, for early issu-
ance, which will permit markup
covering freight costs. Adding labor
costs is taboo as Of today, but Arnall
did not preclude the possibility Of
professors getting some redress later.
Hard on this announcement came
an OPS order Suspending price
controls on radio and televiSion sets.
rugs and carpets. Well-informed
staffers in the OPS indicated that
further relaxation of controls on a
few more soft" market items is a
possibility this fall.
Transforming Trip
Then Tighe Woods, who takes over
Arnall's job the morning after Labor
Day, slightly startled the orthodox by
announcing he plans to barnstorm
the country during September to in
terview American housewives to see
if they want price controls. His
theory is that no control law, good or
bad, will work unless the public
wants it. He thinks the public does
want price controls, but promised to
recommend lifting them if he finds
he's wrong.
On the vital question Of what is
likely to happen to consumer prices
this fall, there still was difference
of opinion in Washington, some Of
it splitting along political lines.
With the exception Of Ellis Arnall,
who always has opposed the steel
price rise, the Government side ex-
pressed cautious optimism that
prices would not rise for a while.
The powers-that-be are inclined to
accept Secretary Sawyer's thesis that
big inventories, plus anticipated, GUS
toner resistance, may prevent the
price structure from skyrocketing.
Recent suspensions of price con-
trolls on certain items were cited as
healthy sign that prices are not
necessarily headed upward. The
policy will be to clamp restrictions
back on If prices show any signs of
misbehaving.
Ellis Arnall and the OPS staff still