ANTI-INFLATION MEASURES

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume 77, 29 April 1942, Page 5

ANTI-INFLATION MEASURES

CONGRESS REACTION TO r ROOSEVELT’S PLANS Washington, April 28. i A speedy Congressional reaction has c been forthcoming to Mr Roosevelt's t anti—inflation message to Congress. i The first opposition was from the f farm bloc. Senator Bankhead said ne was flatly opposed to the President’s suggestion that Congress should make J a parity level at which price ceilings can be applied to farm products. (Parity is a figure which is usually based on the 1909-14 income and is calculated to give the farmers equal purchasing power to that which then obtained). I Senator Bankhead also opposed a re- f commendation reducing tlie formula 1 on agricultural commodities from 110 \ per cent, to flat parity. Such action, he t said, would make it impossible for a r farmer even to get parity on the basis 1 of the fluctuating prices on the ex- ‘ c changes. f Representative Cox said, ‘The message does not go far enough, particul- c arlv in respect of labour.” Vice-President Wallace said it was a *■ comprehensive, well-rounded pro- * gramme. t Speaker Rayburn said the message c covered the things that must be done in order to prevent unreasonable prices 1 and all elements in the population must 1 sacrifice and serve. Senator Wagner said the stabilisa- d tion of wages, taken with Labour’s voluntary pledge to refrain from , strikes for the duration of the war, i represented the most sweeping control of labour in the history of the United States, and therefore the anti-Labour bills should be rejected. Senator Chandler said he was glad Mr Roosevelt had followed a realistic method which would not delude the farmer into a false sense of prosperity. r Representative Robertson, who is*a * member of the Ways and Means Com- f ’ mittee, said, “We have never been will- t ing before to impose a profit limita- C tion solely on invested capital, and I a do not believe we will now.” He add- v ed that he seriously doubted whether s the committee would put a definite S limit on what a man could have. I s‘