Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1956-01-29
MESSAGES
Economic Report Asks
Study Of Credit Curbs;
Health Plans Revealed

The President. in his economic
report on Tuesday. suggested TO
Congress that 1t consider restoring
some restraints to the American
chase after the Golden Fleece OF
an ever-higher standard Of living.
Credit has been the sustaining
force of the big buyers boom OF
the last two years. Almost 8 million
well-wheeled Americans bought new
automobiles last year. Seventy per
cent of these autos were financed
on the installment plan. An esti-
mated IS per cent OF all durable
goods sold was bought on credit
At the end Of the year, there
were signs Of faltering. Faint as
these signs were, they did exist in
an economy that has, in the past
quarter century. become highly
sensitive to economic changes.
There were few layoffs in the
auto industry and signs of a gen.
eral production cutback in coming
months. The industry turned out
44,556 fewer passenger cars in the
first three weeks of January than
in the same 1855 period. And hous-
ing, a good business barometer,
promised to be down from last
years level.
So Mr.. Eisenhower told Congress
that consideration should be CIV
en- to restoring the Governments
power to regulate the terms OF con-
sumner credit" Present conditions
do not call for the use of such
authority, but this would be good
time" to study having it available
on a standby basis. he said.
The Federal Reserve Board
fought to prevent the scrapping of
such standby authority in 1852,
but Congress ignored its pleas. The
opponents of this incubation
against imitation are mainly those
businessmen who would be regu-
lated-plus some members of Mr..
Eisenhower's own party who like
to recall wildly his 1852 pledges
to unbind what he called a CON
trolled economy"
Cool Reception on Hill
The Presidents request also re-
ceived a generally cool reception
on Capitol Hill. Texas Representa-
tive Wright Patman, a high-rank-
ing Democrat on the Banking and
Currency Committee. said yester-
day that there would be return
to standby consumer controls only
over his dead body. He added that
he did not think such a measure
would have "even slight chance"
this session.
Mr.. Eisenhower's forecasts for
the coming year were brightly opti-
mistic. With the Nation on the
threshold of a $500 billion economy,
he said that the country is start
ing the new year from a strong
financial as well as strong indus
trial position"
But the picture painted by Mr..
Eisenhower's expectations for 1856
is brought into clearer focus when
this years economic report is COM
pared with last years. If the Presi-
dent was enthusiastically optimistic
last year. he was only Just plain
optimistic this year In 1855, his
forecast for record prosperity
year was without qualifications.
This year. his predictions contain
many "howevers," "althoughs" and
butts" which denoted definite ele-
ment of uncertainty The Presi-
dent seemed to be saying in his
Tuesday report:
Conditions are favorable to
sustained level, but that doesn't
mean we're going to continue up
ward forever. We won't have in
1856 runaway imitation and we
won't have any depressing defla-
ton. But we do need to keep our
eyes OPEN"