Milford chronicle., 1952-07-18
SOCIALISM BREEDS WASTE

A group of experts known as the Pres-
dents materials policy commission has been
conducting lOng-range economic study of
the nations resources. In the course of a
five-vOlume report the conclusion is reached
that the United States is exhauSting its re-
sources so rapidly that future security and
economic expansion are seriously" threaten
ed
There is no question but that rapid pOpu-
latlOn growth and phenOmenally high living
standards, coupled with continuing military
emergency, are consuming materials of all
kinds at rate that calls for intelligent use
and practical conservation of resources. No
one is more aware of these hard facts than
Industries which produce the goods and serv-
ices that keep the country going One of the
greatest benefits of the competitive system
is its relentless push toward fullest utiliza-
tlOn OF natural resources. A pound of coal, a
gallon of oil, tree from the fOreSt-all are
used far more effectively now than ever be-
fore.
Ironically a cause of great and needless
waste of both energy and resources is found
in the theological warfare between the indi-
vidual and the state being waged in our cOun-
try. Politicians constantly seek to extend the
authority of government while private citi-
zens must constantly fight for rights and lib
critics which are supposed to be guaranteed
to them under the Constitution Government
seizure of the steel industry was one example
Another is the long continuing effort of So
claliSt planners to destroy the right of proper
ty ownership by Matchmaking the electric in
duStry. The Socialists are actually the big
geSt stumbling block to such things as real
flood control, conservation and maximum de-
velOpment of electric power facilities because
these fine ObjectiveS are of secondary impOr-
tance in their book. Socialism, which means
making the state the master of the individual,
is always first with them. The resultant
waste of energy and materials that can be
laid directly at their door is incalculable This
is the price We pay for trying to mix regulated
private enterprise and socialism. The plain
fact is we cannot afford it.
BETTER BUT STILL BAD
The new price control law is better than
its predecessor-for the reason that it mOdi-
fieS and eliminates some of the powers of the
controllers. But it is still bad law-for the
reason that anything which permits political
dictation of the economy, and political tink-
ering with the natural law of supply and de-
mand, is bad.
Shortly before the new law was passed,
the House did the right thing by voting for a
measure which would have lifted virtually all
controls on consumer goods. However, strong
pressures were brought to bear and the COM
promise bill was accepted
1t will be a sad day for this country if we
ever forget that controls deal only with the
symptoms of the economic disease called in
fation, not with the disease itself Controls
are based on the theory that all we have to do
is to tell the merchant and manufacturer and
others concerned that this article or that must
be sold for such-and-such price They con-
veniently overlook the fact that the true
causes of initiation are found in such menaces
as unbalanced budgets, an ever growing Fed
eral debt, and wantOn waste and fiscal ire
sponsibility in every branch of government.
It's one thing to tell merchant and manu-
facturer what can be charged for goods. It's
a very different thing to make people buy and
sell the goods if the politically
price is too low to pay the costs and leave
some kind of profit. And that is why, in
nation after nation, controls have bred scarc:-
ty and reduced living standards.
Congress should have abandoned the con-
trOIs entirely. And everyone who believes in
free, dynamic economy should keep on work
ing toward that end.
5000
N-VTYrT