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Show The Burlington (Iowa) LABOR NEWS (Labor) says: About all the new OPA bill does for us is to legalize Black Market prices. The Lebanon (Ohio) WESTERN STAR (Republican) says: We have, for the moment, eliminated the fraud of paying pay-ing part of everyone's grocery bill by subsidies, but we are still paying the tariff on sugar from the federal treasury. Thus a benevolent government levies tax to protect selected citizens-in this case sugarbeet growers-and then pays the tax itself. The Department of Agriculture has bou ght the whole sugar crop of Cuba for this year and next at $3.67!2 a hundred. hun-dred. The agreement contains an escalator clause under which if the American price indext rises, the sugar price goes up, too, so that for her sugar Cuba can buy a stable amount of American goods. Then the government turns this raw sugar over to refiners re-finers at cost plus carrying charges. But it pays the tariff of 75 cents a hundred itself. On a billion dollars a year that is considerable money. The Walt erboro (South Carolina) PRESS & STANDARD STAND-ARD (Democratic) says : After almost a month during which time there were no restrictions enforced on prices and buying and selling the necessities of life, a return has been made to restricting OPA. We felt that with the enforcement out of use for almost al-most a month, that it would be just about as well to permit that function of the governmental restrictions to lapse permanently. perm-anently. Sooner or later we shall have to do without these price controls and trust to the good judgment of the people of the United States, and it appeared that now is as good a time as we can find for such removal of all legal restrictions and let the law of supply and demand begin working again. i '. i 1 EDITORIALS OF THE WEEK Tlie Drakes Branch (Virginia) CHARLOTTE GAZETTE (Independent) says:- NEW ZEALANDERS GETTING FED UP . WITH SOCIALISM Among the nations of the world New Zealand has long been known as one of the most advanced in political, social and economic progress. It has been watched with interest as a sort of laboratory of Socialist experimentation and while we in the United States have heard less about it than some larger nations' experiments, it is probable that numerous innovations of our own (were based on the New Zealand findings. But now A. F. "Cunningham, member of the editorial staff of a group of Australian and New Zealand newspapers, newspa-pers, declare that "with almost the whole world showing signs of a leftist tendency, students of politics may note with interest at New Zealand, one of the first countries to take the Socialist path, is now showing an unmistakable trend in the opposite direction." He then goes on to tell some of the disappointments that have come from well-meaning programs in New Zealand. Zea-land. Many people assured of medical treatment are inclined in-clined to rush to the government doctor with the smallest complaints. ' v Spreading of the wealth can tend toward a "dead level lev-el mediocrity," a limitation of opportunity causing the ablest people to seek greater openings elsewhere. Then there are those, says Cunningham, who do not want to do any work because they're assured of unemployment unemploy-ment benefit. Controls, it has been found, lead to more and more controls. That doesn't mean that New Zealand hasn't made some gains that will be retained but the experience has shown just how far a country can go along the "gimme" road before a deadly hand halts progress. The United States can take warning from the New Zealand example. In fact, what has happened already in this country would indicate a turn from extreme state control con-trol measures so ably championed by the New Dealers the past few years. Uneasy, indeed, lie the heads of numerous congressmen, congress-men, especially among the Democrats. ABOUT THE AMERICAN WAY The Carlton (Minn.) CARLTON CO. VIDETTE (non-partisan) (non-partisan) says: In the Russian sense of thought, if you own your own ten acres in Carlton county or a section, if you have $100 or $1,000 in the bank, or own a home in town, you are a capitalist. capi-talist. But, beh ind it all, whether we are on the top or just getting started at the bottom of the heap, we are striving forward for-ward to better our way of life and attempting to build an existence to improve our conditions and pass on to our children chil-dren a better mode of Jife. Rich or poor, you cannot take it with you. In the American way of life, inventor, scientist, capitalist, capital-ist, laborer, or farmer, we all are dependent upon each other. oth-er. Occasionally there are differnces, but they usually iron out to the satisfaction of all concerned. In the ultimate result, re-sult, the scientist invents, capital makes possible production, the worker produces and the Carlton county farmer is able to buy a new tractor, a new radio, a new milking machine and the cycle goes on, ever improving, making America a better place in which to live. The West Hartford (Conn.) METROPOLITAN NEWS NEWS (Republican) says : There can be no such thing as limiting government domination to one or a few industries. If the trend is permitted per-mitted to continue, it must inevitably end only when all industry in-dustry is the creature of government. The super-state is the ultimate in monopoly. It cannot exist save through dicta, tion. It can never brook competition. And sooner3 or later, it abolishes the right of dissent precisely as was done in Germany, Italy and Japan. We must make the decision. We will have either free government or dictatorial government. And no halfway measures are possible. The Akron (Ohio) SUMMIT CO. DEMOCRAT ( Dem-ocrat) Dem-ocrat) says: Let us not forget that the Democratic Administration considered it sounder business policy to have the common people, the laboring masses, satisfied. Let us not forget the favorable labor legislation that was passed against tremendous GOP opposition, so that the American worker's standard of living could be elevated and his earnings enable him to enjoy a share in that prosperity pros-perity which rightfully belongs to him. |
