Stop Fooling

One man had a suggestion of how to get some meat on U.S. tables. Boldly, Agriculture Secretary Clinton P. Anderson proposed that the Government use its war powers to rustle the ranges, buy meat on the hoof (at over-ceiling prices, if necessary), then allocate the animals to legitimate slaughterhouses.

"We've got to go out and beat the bushes for meat," cried Clint Anderson. "The time has passed when we can fool around with the OPA and price controls. Once the meat pipelines are filled, I can then declare that meat is no longer in short supply and we can have the controls taken off and meat will continue to flow into the channels of trade. That's the quick and reasonable way to end the meat crisis, and I'm confident that that's what will happen."

In effect, Anderson's plan substituted government premiums for the extra dollars many farmers now get from the black market. Nobody had yet figured out what the premiums might cost. Whatever the merits or demerits of Anderson's plan in its actual operation, he had a precedent and a cogent argument for it:

"The President is up against the same sort of thing he was last spring when our shipments of relief grain abroad fell way below what we had promised. He finally took Chester Bowles off our necks and told us to go out and get the grain. Sometimes we had to raise the price a little, but we got it. It was a rough operation, but it worked. Authority was concentrated--one branch of the Government was told to do the job without quibbling and without interference. Now we've got to wrap up responsibility for meat in one package."

When administrative Washington heard Secretary Anderson's proposal, it was as though a glob of grease had been thrown on a red-hot pan. OPA Boss Paul Porter sizzled loudest. Getting steaks next week, said he, was less important than achieving stability of the economy. He appealed for "public understanding and support of price control,"* said that "the danger of losing the battle against inflation" had never been more serious.

To adopt the Anderson plan, Harry Truman--who had come out for continued controls--would have to reverse himself again, and he was probably tired of doing that. But the plan was the only one around that promised some meat on voters' tables by Nov. 5.

* Last week the OPA caved in on restaurant prices for meat dishes, granted a 15% increase. Also upped: prices of oleomargarine, salad dressings and shortenings--at an estimated cost to U.S. consumers of about $5,000,000 a month.

This file is automatically generated by a robot program, so reader's discretion is required.