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About The Oregon statesman. (Salem, Or.) 1916-1980 | View Entire Issue (Nov. 23, 1947)
p--Tho Statoamcm, Sodom. Oregon. Sunday. NoTOmbor 23. 1947 "'No Favor Sways Us, No Fear Shall Awe" Fran first SUtesmaa, March 2S, mi THE STATESMAN PUBLISHING COMPANY CHARLES A, SPRACUE, Editor and Publisher Member ef the Associated Press - kite Associated Press is entitled exclusively to the vse fer republi cation sf all the local news printed in this newspaper, as well as all rF news dispatches. Credit Control and Inflation The republicans in control of congress have shelved the Truman proposals for price-wage controls but are taking up his recommendations on control of credits and rents. "They lack sympathy for any revival of OPA'and have little faith in partial controls. So they turn to consider ways of restricting the flow of credit, and with jretty good logic to support the decision. S Inflation, which the president seeks to curb, is marked by the spiralling of wages and prices. It develops when there is relatively mort money in the hartds of the people (plus a will to spendJt) than there are goods and services Which the people - desire. During the war the quantity of money was greatly in creased through government borrowing, and production was greatly curtailed of goods for public consumption. Inflation was restrained by wage-price controls, aggressive bond-selling cam paigns and increase in taxation. Controls were thrown off after J the war in the belief that production would quickly catch up withdemanL However, draining off part of our production (wheat, coal, steel, .manufactured goods) to foreign countries without getting back equivalent values excites inflation. Hence, the immediate problem is to reduce the impact of our new for eign assistance on the domestic price level. As far as production is concerned we are operating now at peak levels and have been for true -in agriculture. The prospect is for a smaller wheat crop next year. It Is true in mining of metals and coal and'in pro duction of petroleum. Steel mills are running virtually at capa city, and so are most other manufacturing enterprises. Increases cannot come without plant expansion or renovation or techno logical improvement, which take If production may not readily be increased what about re ducing the money supply? But who will cut wages? Higher prices are used to justify demands for further wage increases, and present full employment ine rise in uvuik cusut. However, purchasing power or regular income (wages, salaries, aiviaenas, rents, interest, profits) but also on the use of credit. A freeze of credit, 'slow m or fast, would quickly reduce after the government stopped issuing war bonds was a resump tion of private borrowing. Over in the home mortgage- debt is amount of consumer credit (charge accounts, installment loans) Commercial borrowing by business has shown great increase as business concerns have borrowed for new buildings, for new equipment, for carrying inventories. The heory is that-if brakes are put on credit, purchasing power will decline, production catch up with demand and prices The techniques involved consumer credit (Revive Regulation W, which expired Novem ber 1); raise reserve requirements for commercial banks; in crease margin requirements for changes. The danger is that tampering with the credit structure might start a reverse cycle. Slowing down installment sales might result in shutdowns in factories making durable goods. Raising reserve" requirements might force banks to call com mercial loans and start a dumping of inventories or prompt banks to sell government bonds, thus lowering the price and making refinancing of short-term It is apparent that monkeying without hazard. As long as we have rising easy credit, we shall have inflation, with or without price con trols. As long as the buying power out adequate production will encourage the black market or the dissipation of buying power in areas not under control (pleasure seeking, travel, gambling, philanthropies). We may undertake government restrictions on credit, but a more effective means ti that rf inHiviitiial riXMeinn in rowing. In the depression we found the major difficulty was uhwillincness through fears either to spend or to. borrow. A renewal of that conservatism, salutary effect now. Otherwise inflation will run its course to exhaustion of buying power of large groups because of excessive prices, falling off in demand, cutting of prices, closing of factor' les, unemployment another NRA instead of OPA. The decision rests not merely with the government but with banks, business men, individuals. The Bear Growls Russia growls because little an agreement which granted oil It accuses Iran of hostile action fusing to go through with the Moscow over a year ago with Iran is guilty of discrimination because the British enjoy petroleum concessions in South Iran. However, the so-called agreement was written under duress when Russian troops occu pied parts of Iran and Russia was encouraging an autonomous republic. The agreement called for ratification by the Iran par liament, which was quite within its rights in rejecting the instru ment signed under virtual compulsion. Undoubtedly the support of the western powers encour aged Iran to raise the bars against Russia. But observing what hfrpprrs when Russians get into a country it is not surprising that the . bosses of Iran wanted to keep them out. They have only to look at the Baltic states and the Balkans to see what might happen tp them. Whether the bear's growl will ful, though Russia is in dire need Would promptly be taken up by the. United Nations, and Russia seems hardly willing to draw its rebuke on the basis of overt .aggression. Nevertheless, the world must recognize that the oil of the middle east is highly inflammable. "Congregational Engineers Every job is a profession can't tack at least the title of "engineer" to his name is just out in the cold, that's all. Plumbers are sanitary engineers, jani tors are maintenance engineers, and icemen are refrigeration engineers. The latest glamorous appellation is awarded to church ush ers by a University of Omaha professor. He calls them "congrt gational engineers. And with that new rank the professor, who started the nation's first school for church ushers four years ago, calls for a more professional performance by the men who Juggle collection plates. It's thumbs down on the clothes, greets worshippers as though tht Sunday service were a lodge meeting; and hands out programs with the air of a newsie hawking an "extra." Pointing to ness contact men and public frowns on congregational engineers who: gush; wear cigars, pencils or bright handkerchiefs in breast pockets; snub visitors; slight the "bum"; paw the women; seat husbands and wives - separately, and leave the church when the. minister begins the sermon. The professor has a case. But congregational engineers, with department store floorwalker, 'pique picket a church with signs State$matt some years. This is certainly time. reenforces demands in excess of depends not only on the amount J IS 3 . A I A. S. buying power. What happened seven and a half billion increase reported and a doubling of the level off or decline. would be J to restore controls on trading on commodity ex government issues more costly with the credit structure is not wage levels, full employment, is hvhand, price control with He rauLiniia in snenriinff' or bar excessive then, would have Iran's parliament has rejected concessions to the Sviet Union and rude discrimination in re deal which was negotiated in Premier Ahmad Qavam. be followed by a bite is doubt of petroleum. Aggression there these days and the worker who church usher who wears loud the smooth operations of busi relations experts, the professor we dread the day when trained all the suavity and aplomb of a form unions and in some fit of that "God is unfair to ushers.' (Continued from page 1) of course, that they have to pay more money to get good men, and they are doing it. There Is a real Interest amone many men in police duty. I found that, out at the statehouse where in prewar days the job most frequently sought was i that of member of the state police force. It wasn't just the salary that at tracted but the type of work. Many men seem to have a yearn ing to be a policeman, just as others want to be engineers or aviators. Others who do not want to be regular policemen ask for com missions as special agents, which are issuable by the governor, so far as I could see, they do this tor no valid reason. They never make any arrests. Perhaps they want to flash a badge to get special favor at a ball park or get their car ahead of the line. Probably it is to satisfy an inner urge for authority, even if they never swing a billy or wear a gun. The badge pinned on the in side ox their coats may .inflate their ego. The authority of the governor to issue these passports to vanity ought to be greatly re stricted. There are plenty of men who think of themselves as detectives. too. This inclination may be prompted by some inborn suspi cion of others which craves satis faction in spying. Amateur de tectives are worth about a dime a dozen. They get in the way of professionals, and only very rare ly do they turn up with solutions to crime mysteries. These stirrings in local police circles reflect the reorganization which comes afjer the war and indicate that the cities are seek ing to improve their police estab lishments. They need to. These cities are growing, and they are attracting criminals from other parts. We can t rely on village Hawkshaws to do palidng. . Matter By Joseph AIsop Headqaartersi Time Calls The Tone BERLIN, Nov. 22 Every re sponsible American and British official here shares the fervent conviction that after the failure of the London conference, urgent steps must be taken to form a provisional government in West ern Germany. These are the prac tical men dealing with the prac tical situation. Their opinion de serves respect in any case. Their arguments, moreover, appear to be irrefutable by any realistis test They say first that it Is vain and time-wasting to continue . L seeking or hop- y t ing for agree- T""'V ment with the f .. -J iinent wl .. 'v' . , y Soviets. 1 ' J v ' & vet com L "S lEasten r I many Is s The So- contrpl of n5 Ger- squarely based on ruth less terror, and has tha total 01 MvodX.oTi of lEastern Ger )C.f lman3r. hoth po AL ! I litical and eco AiWhiu' - nomic, as its pur pose. For the present, the Soviets cannot conveivably be pursuaded to start afresh, with wholly new methods and purposes. There fore, evefi Gen. Lucius D. Clay, whose highest ambition on com ing to Germany was to achieve agreement with the Soviets, now frankly feels that there is no hope. In the second place, the mere passage of tune is press ingthesel Americans and Britishers ritishers who7 " ' ive the task of if ' . . 1 Imini s t e r i n g ! f - " I have admini the most import-1 4 k S .1 ' old German tat Thl! broad problem is neatly summed up in the cur 2 rency issue. Alll four zones of Germany still Tw ALS5oe use reichsmarks printed . by the Allies as their currency. JJut the currency is on the verge of losing all value, except as a sort of of ficial script for buying official rations. . Soviets Caase Trouble A large part of the trouble has been caused by the Soviets. They were negligently given dies to print reichsmarks by our treasury. They have printed uncounted bil lions, to pay their troops, to "buy" industries for Soviet account, and to meet all other occupation charges. They have 'consistently refused to-agree to Germany-wide currency reform. A stage of acute danger has now been reached. If the valueless reichsmarks are not soon replaced with money having some value, there is like lihood of a general catastrophe. There is also the certainty that the effort to rebuild Germany's economic life will fail. Therefore the task of currency reform must begin at once, and begin squarely in the Anglo-American and French zones. Issuance of a separate currency for the Anglo-American and French zones wilL of course, be practically equivalent to the di vision of Germany into wholly separate political entities. But this is not the only -way in which, time presses. Leaks In Dykes Appear. There are no fully Responsible governmental authorities? in West ern Germany today. The economic council of .the Anglo-American III f 1 J tf Q nW-:'-m wSkx it aL jay pWA ill 1 mm v i nun 1 Bird of Paradise of Fact and Stewart Alsop Washington. D. C tones and the various land gov ernments can make decisions. But being known to be impermanent, they cannot fully enforce their will. Thus far, the rationing sys tem has continued to assure the great majority of Germans slend er subsistence. But leaks In tht dyke, little everwhere and some big as in the Ruhr, long ago began to appear. - In short, the rationing system must .be quickly sustained and strengthened, as must the whole administrative machine by which Germany will be rebuilt Job Up To Germans But the Western powers cannot adopt tha blood-stained methods of the police state to carry out their decisions in Germany. The job can only be done, in the last analysis, by the Germans themselves. And this requires a still further step. It is now urgent not only to give the Germans of the west a currency of some val uo. It is equally urgent to give thema genuinely representative provisional government, which the German people can hold re sponsible for future failures. The alternative is administrative col lapse. From such political realities as these, there is no escape except into theory. In fact, the remain ing open question is not whether another staemate in London will be the sign for a radical reorgan ization of Western Germany. Th question still open is whether the French will join with the British and Americans in setting up this new western Germany which will allow the Germans to contribute to their own salvation. Opposition Expected It is to be expected that the extremists among the French will bitterly dislike the whole bus! ness. For two years, they have been demanding a divided Ger many. They have been urging i forg of German federalism as de centralized and as unworkable as the American Continental Con gress. They have been deaf to the argument that an unworkable German government would fail, that political and social poisons would be generated by this gov arnmental failure, and that i uerman drive for national re demption on the old pattern would then result Now, however that a divided Germany is actu ally in prospect, they have hastily cnanged their song. Bankrupt Policy Urged sWhen advocating federalism. they said nothing of the natural German impulse towards national unity. But now they talk of noth ing but the danger that a divided Germany will fly together around the nucleus of Berlin. Therefore, they urge a policy of bankruptcy indefinite prolongation of the present hopeless mess, with the certainty of ultimate collapse of administration thereby produced. These men would be less import ant if it were not for the signs that General dt Gaulle adheres to their view. Fortunately, two new develop ments provide grounds for qual ified optimism. On the one hand, the American policy makers have at last recognized the folly of our high handed past dealings with the French government The prac tical situation in Germany does not permit endless delays foe Anglo-French-American haggling. But the French will not again "be asked, with ungenial brusqueness, to accept accomplished facts in Germany, This is part of the great it:i change typified In Gerneral Clay's own winking. KahablllUUe Now Ala , A year ago. Clay could be ac cused of suffering from German localities. Now however, his whole thought is concentrated on the broad reconstruction of Western Europe, and he sees the rehabil itation of Germany as only a part in this larger whole. Meanwhile, in Paris also, there has been a change of heart in many quarters. The currency problem, and the developing dol lar deficit in the French zone of Germany, are, both . forcing the French to consider the need for a German administration that will really work. Two representatives of the French foreign office. Beaumarchais and Do Labourlaye, have actually visited Berlin in recent weeks to survey the pos sibuity of a tri-zonal merger. Thus there seems to bo some pos sibility of a sound co-operative solution. After that, the task will be to make the solution a success. CesTwrlgfct. 1947, New York Herald Trio TP '.Mr Pnblle, Records ciacuiT coubt Paul C Hansen and Mersa Y. Hanson vs Clifford Jones Sumner and others: Suit to quiet tlue to real property. . Karley A. Borders vs George Alexander: Undertaking om ap peal filed by plaintiff. OrvHle Brosig vs Charles De Guire and others: Motions to make more definite and certain filed by defendants. , MAKKIAGE LICENSE APPLICATIONS Daryl F. Jones, 11, salesman, 386 Hoyt st, Salem, and Janet Burkert, 20, clerk-typist. Wood burn route 2. Frank J. Jackson, 22, telephone installer, Astoria, and Helen Irene Roter, 17, bookkeeper. Mill City. PKOBATE COUKT Ole Satern estate: Order closing estate filed. Everett L. Dake estate: Carl T. Pope appointed administrator and Gordon Skinner, Ada B. Boardman and Florence S. Mulcahy appoint ed appraisers. Anna VL Espey estate: Order on GRIN AND BEAR "And if Father asks If yea coaster by asking - atir- amendment to sale of real prop erty authorizes sale at public or private sale or combination of both. Merel William Burdick, guard ianship estate: Order authorizes sale of real property. DISTRICT COUBT William Wood Carlson, Donald, intoxicated on a public highway. fined S5Q and costs. Charles Murray Leonard, Sil- verton, no warning device (horn) on automobile, fined S3 and costs. John Aid en Schurtz, Eugene, no tail light, $10 fine suspended on payment of costs. Walter A. Nystrom, jrt Salem route 7, box 159, defective muf fler, fined $3 and costs. I Napoleon E. Vanover, Tillamook. pleaded innocent to charge of non support waived preliminary ex amination and bound over to grand jury. I Grovor.C. Weaver, 725 N. Com mercial st, charged with non support continued for plea to Monday, November 24. MUNICIPAL COUKT LaVerne E. Hardy, 1270 Market st, pleaded guilty to Interfering with fire department equipment, fined $10. Otto A- Marquardt, 209 I. 18th st, pleaded guilty, to driving while Intoxicated, fined $200, license re voked for one year and 60-day jail sentence suspended. Harold A. Harrington; 124a S Commercial st, violation of basic rule, fined $10. Jess Hayden, Eugene, violation of basis rule, posted $10 bait Richard C. Lutz, Hubbard, vio lation of basle rule, posted $7.50 bail. .. Edward Carl Hawkins, Salem route 1, box 275, charged with reckless driving, posted $50 baiL Contractor Renounces American Glizenship ONTARIO, Calif, Nov. 22 -VP) Contractor Carl Harvey, 51, vet eran of World War I, announced today ho has "renounced my American citizenship'' i on the grounds that the government is "bureaucratic and dictatorial." The culminating reason, he de clared, is the refusal of the state unemployment commission to pay his daughter compensation after she had lost her job. IT By Lichty sapoert a wife yaw If HE eaaT DAV Sets Up Fund Office Headquarters for the campaign to collect funds for the proposed Disabled American Veterans liv ing memorial building has been set up on the main floor of the Sears Roebuck Co. State street store. DAV officials announced Saturday. Contract to construct the build ing has been awarded to Henry Carl, Salem contractor, who was low among five . bidders. Carl's bid was $7179. . . The date on which 'construction would start had been set at De cember 1, but, the DAV board of trustees said Saturday, it would be delayed because approximate- SPORTSMEN Cuslon Tanning AND Ilannf adnring Deer and Elk Hides Are Our Specialty Gloves and garments from Soar own leather a last is; and useful trophy. Ilyers Glove and Tanning Co. 1241 Ferry St Ph. 6021 THREE FOR TOO U . STEVEIIS J rfwf SMART THREESOMES l '&A ( for DItlDE and GROOS1 m Merchiwj bride mn4 room ensemble Ov" (Vj proclaim f all the world the ties of 0 r4 mHtt'fn that bind yon two. Her ngegement ring set with fiery VPj f diamond ... the weddis tNds fee H krWe m4 groom ef complemearary rTy norif -'f: wv r A r c 1 1 -A 1 1 (T) Bright diamond twinkles m rA the engagement ring, f-infl Matching wedding bands I Mil 7k ... all wrought of 14K gold. ffi (D For him and her . . . richly Pfli fashioned wedding bands in CI OtT ' design to match her J- "l x(fcv v diamond engagement ring ltU N AU off 14K gold. 'vy an uhu w mm x V anw Arrm94 mt Na iatra Ova i j ly $30,000 Is still lacking of the needed amount Mrs. Laura John son, president of the Gold Star Mothers, is chairman of the fund drive which will include all of Marion county. 0W Tke ll$IT BoeUee Fer Ytll fl-tre Wsrkl 111 Mil ' VkrUr W1rlrii m mmA i it's ntt far mm? Hi i hi r -f far pna' Mmtmnlm'SSi paratas owlcta. Call today tor St Vkt eo Sanaa Pwrtag t Call SMI 297 pert,St. emu. oaprailabtaVK rwi lama eanaotv. eiilt MiatzMtiim. i l