Evening star., 1953-01-12

His personnel men, his engi-
neers, his labor relations men
or his production experts stand
by when he is working on prob
lens in those fields.
AS to the speeches, his prin-
cipal topics have to do with
Government interference in busi-
ness, imitation Che has become
quite an amateur economiSt)
the gold standard (he's against
iD and. combining production
facilities for peace and war. He
uses charts showing the rela-
tionship of wage rates. con-
sumers' prices, physical produc-
ton and the money supply. One
of his principal points is that
higher wages do not cause high
er prices; higher prices are
caused principally by the Gov
ernment spending more than it
takes in. thus increasing the
money supply. His favorite topic
is the General Motors United
Automobile Workers wage plan.
"Near New Dealer"
On one social occasion when
he was expounding these, views
an associate had the temerity to
call him a near New Dealer. "
That gave him pause.
WELL" he finally said. I'm
not an Old Dealer"
He is ready to do battle any
time any one says the plan is
inf1ationary, and plenty of in
dustrialists have said just that.
Classic reactionarieS," he calls
them.
Some of the things he says
would sound quite radical-com-
ing from another source. In de-
Tending his wage contract he
said that the $176 million extra
dividend paid the stockholders
in 1850 was far more inf1ation-
ary than the 5-cent-an-hour in
crease given the employees under
the contract. The first, he said,
added the $176 million to the
purchasing power of the stock
holders: the second added only
$40 million to the purchasing
power of the employees.
Then he couldn't resist taking
a swing in the other direction.
Wages would be higher, he said,
If there were no unions at all.
Certainly no one with as much
experience in producing the
munitions of war has ever been
called on to head the Nation s
military establishment. During
World War II General Motors
turned out almost one-fourth of
all the tanks, armored cars and
airplane motors made in this
country, almost half of the ma
chine guns and carbines and
tWo-thirds of the trucks used by
the armed forces-$12 billion
worth in all.
And it is doubtful that any
one ever was appointed to a
political position with less po-
litical experience than he. He
tells a little story about that.
When victory seemed in sight in
1945, he wanted to start making
automobiles again. The urge
to make automobiles always has
been terrific with him. The corpo-
ration had made record 2.3
million vehicles in 1941 and he
wanted to top it. He felt sorry
for the people who had gone so
long without new cars.
Went to Baruch.
He had never got anywhere
in Washington so he went to
Bernard Baruch in New York.
Your idea seems quite sound"
said the elder statesman, "but
it's too soon for it politically.
Remember political leaders have
to keep looking behind them
once in a while to see if the
people are following them or
they aren't political leaders any,
more"
He had met Gen. Eisenhower
only briefly when the general
was president of Columbia Uni
verSity. Mr.. Wilson went to the
1949 commencement to receive
an honorary degree of doctor of
science. It seems he made a good
impression. -...-..
He had no idea he was going
to be tapped. He was in the
duck blinds with Red Curtice of
Buick (HarloW H. Curtice who
succeeds him as head of General
MotorS) and Mike German, edi-
ter of the Flint journal, the day
after the election. Mr. German
mentioned that he had just made
his reservations in Washington
for the inaugural week end.
Say, I'd like to go to that"
said Mr.. Wilson. I've never been
to an Inauguration"
In addition to the attitude of
the engineer-making the most
effective use of power and
natural resources-he brings to
his new job a very important
quality, his keen instinct of