LAST MONTH, our leading editorial article was headed: “PEACE … What Will It Bring to Stockmen?” That question is now being answered, at least to some extent. And the answer so far is, not so good. Throughout the country, attempts at reconversion are being thwarted by strikes. Hundreds of thousands of workers are affected and each new strike means idleness for thousands more. Thus the first answer is labor unrest, and a widening chasm between labor and management, with both labor and management partly to blame, and the Federal government largely to blame.
Biggest difficulty in bringing about industrial peace is government policy—or lack of it. Big cause of failure of management and labor to get together is that the national administration is still attempting to hang onto wartime controls over prices, wages and industry, as well as agriculture.
Refusal of bureaucrats to permit any of the natural laws of economics to function and their insistence upon a “planned economy” most certainly is the heart of most of the troubles in America today. Employers cannot meet wage demands, even though they feel that workers are entitled to increases in line with higher living costs, because Bureaucrat Chester Bowles of OPA continues to hang onto his wartime powers. Manifestly, costs of production can’t be sharply increased without some increase in selling prices and this can’t be done without OPA permission.
Outcome of the present labor disturbances, if they do not get out of control, may be a concerted public demand for more realistic attitude from the government. OPA Chief Bowles believes that the greatest Inflation threat is here now—and he is insistent that price controls must be adhered to rigidly. Perhaps he is right.
But the other side of the picture is that refusal of government to release industry from tight controls will in itself prevent industry from functioning—and thus aggravate shortages and more certainly bring about even greater inflation.
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ONE THING does seem certain. We are headed for higher wages and higher prices for most commodities. As indicated on the graph carried in our September issue, prices of livestock
are closely linked with wages and national income. Thus the stockman has a very definite interest in the early settlement of wage disputes, fullest possible employment compatible with free enterprise, and a decent wage for workers.
The important thing is to get people back to work. You can just about gamble that workers generally are going to get more money in most industries, and you can safely bet that prices of most of the things you buy will be higher than before the war.
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CATTLEMEN are alarmed over the sharp decline in prices of most of the “in between” grades of cattle which are still subject to rationing, while lowest grades are point-free. It is another reason why OPA Chief Bowles is unpopular with the livestock industry. Everybody in the meat trade feared that when a piecemeal job of taking meat off the rationing list was attempted, it would unduly disrupt the market.
It is another instance where the bungling of a bureaucrat has cost the livestock producers a lot of money. It is time now for the removal of ALL MEATS from rationing before any further financial loss is forced upon cattlemen. The one way to get action is to bombard your Congressmen with your demands for a fair and square deal.
Let Mr. Bowles understand that he isn’t running the country with your approval and that it is time for OPA to heed the demands of practical people within the livestock and meat industry.
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A CATTLEMAN who has been traveling a good deal since the reduction of point values on meat took effect criticizes the hotels and restaurants for their failure to serve meat and butter. To this man, it looks like a racket. The proprietors of public eating places raised hell during the war about their inability to get enough meat.
Now they can get just about all the meat they can sell—but for some reason, they aren’t serving it. One of the high-priced eating places in Los Angeles didn’t have a single meat item on the menu, this cattleman informs us. It may be that restaurant people have learned how to make money out of meat substitutes. — Nelson R. Crow
