Show 7 yfr BY RALPH The BOBEY AFL - CIO And One o f the great controversies of many months has been over the cause of the persistent price increase in the face of unused productive capacity and unemBusiness men and ployment most economists have laid the primary blame upon labor union demands This group has insisted that wages going up faster than the output per manhour cost of production necessarily has advanced and business management faced the choice of raising prices or having sharply reduced profits And it has been clear that many companies did not have the leeway on profits to permit such a decline without becoming insolvent Labor spokesmen in contrast have denied this thesis They have held to the view first that profits were large enough to absorb the wage increases and still and that wage increases have been less than the rise of prices or the growth of output per manhour The next step in the argument is to say that prices have risen solely because big business which is powerful enough to ignore supply and demand has simply decided that they should To prove this reference is made to the large industry leaders and most attention is devoted to US Steel and General Motors There are quotations from various Congressional committee hearings all carefully picked to back up the point of view being expressed And all kinds of statistics are thrown into the discussion What is the cure for constantly rising prices? In the words of this pamphlet “one proposal being given increasing consideration calls for public hearings on the pricing policies of the great corporations It would require advance notice and Justification of price increases to be put into effect by any corporation which accounts for more than a specified percentage say 20 to 25 per cent of the total sales of an industry A special governmental agency would be established to hold public hearings on the merits of such a proposed price increase Following the conclusion of the hearings the agency would publish a summary of the material presented both for and against the increase” This proposal has been a favorite of Reuther for years On the surface it has the appearance of being fairly reasonwere such a able Actually system introduced it would virtually wreck our system of individual enterprise and personal freedom It would mean that the owners and managers of a business would no longer have the Prices leave a good bargain and second that business management deliberately has raised prices for the purpose of enhancing profits In short according to labor spokesmen the entire blame for rising prices must be placed on the greed of business management and especially upon the management of large business The labor point of view has now been published in a fancy booklet It is called “Labor Big Business And Inflation” The pamphlet technically is the product of the u s tr i a union department (headed by Walter Reuther) of the AFL - CIO but the views expressed are those of the as a whole The first part of it is an attempt to prove that labor has lost rather than gained by inflation in the past several years Goal within roach Abraham Lincoln once laid "Utoh will yet become the treasure house of the nation" We are approaching that goal and no industry has helped more than agriculture mining and related manufacturing They have created wealth and provided economic stability But they must grow for Utah to achieve its full potential And growth can be obtained only by constant vigilance to maintain a healthy economic climate ASSOCIATION" MIMING UTAH " From the earth comes an abundant I He for all wvm® right to make decisions necessary for the operation of their companies Destroy that right and private ownership is no longer of value If prices are too high the proper manner for correcting them Is and through competition competition is effective in the case of all companies large or small There is little likelihood however that this proposal will get any place in the near future Of more importance is the line argument carried in the pamphlet This argument is well put together and to the uninitiated may be quite impressive To those who know their way in this field and in the use of statistics it obviously is eyewash and just about as far from being scholarly as any piece of writing could be This does not mean the statistics or the quotations are inaccurate But it does mean the statistics were carefully selected as were the quotations and only those which supported the basic thesis of the pamphlet were used This publication is not a correct way in which to present a case and it neither should nor would ever be used by anyone or any organization which is interested in maintaining a reputation for either fairness or honesty An objective presentation of the case would clearly support the contention that labor union demands have been the primary initiating force of price increases in the past two years Build Your Community OIL Gunnison Sanpete County JJtah Thurs Oct 1C list Pare I PROGRESS GUNNISON VALLEY NEWS Published every Thursday at Gunnison Utah Entered at the Post Office at Gunnison Utah as s matter under the act of Gongress el March 3 18Y9 WEEK Wesley Cherry OIL UTAH Support TOO WISH 4 SUPPORT YOUR SCHOOLS ' C S3 & ill' I ISip Oi (la YOU IF WHEN IF YOU DON’T VOTE Per cent BEFORE of net investment income taxes THEN D p! Brack LeeYi'the"oiy Senatorial candidate who sincerely wants to cut taxes and knows how to do it He said he’d lower your taxes when he became governor AND HE DID! Now give him a chance to do the same with the federal taxes you pay - J Bracken Lee Candidate for US Senate The Only PEOPLE’S GOVERNMENT? If you wont to work DENVER COLORADO Fold 6eh&A V - and work Call Elgin hard at a Citlxen for Citutft for Let 4th Clamo Ahtiel 3oth lit Leif a WINNING 1 ECONOMY? ‘£i "V' OIL SUPPORT YOUR YOU LPAYmXESfe COMPANY In 1957 this company’s taxes in Utah totaled $121035865 Of this $85827498 went directly for school purposes— or enough to cover the cost for educating 3288 students on the basis of $261 per pupil as reported by the Utah State Board of Education Remainder of $35208367 went for state county and municipal government purposes A significant item $4242727 for roads 5® ' CARTER t “ LVW — I! 195& y5JL ' U rri — 000 EDITORIAL 5fellA$g0C5A8N ? Shop Locally El NATIONAL Advertisers It Pays THE - Local COMBINATION During 1957 this company paid a total of $35820426 in wages to its employees Its purchases of materials and supplies totaled $12063548 DiHTElUZiPwt lit “ft v W where you get Guaranteed Protection V - - 0 S &UHPUfe pttk Big Bonus WHO? iMlt f Ill ROYAL UOROI Watch Th out (or (or which warrant your support ATLAS Tim satieties a td accessories RAILROAD guaranteed by Utah Oil Refining Company honored by 3R000 dealers from coast to coast Th Vlt-- let them live to life service to MOSfICTOR COLORADO IAOLI ZlfMYR CALIFORNIA Ethyl and Regular is proud to be your fellow citizen and pledges continued dependable transportation WESTERN DENVER & RIO GRANDE Super refined in our ultraformcr unit with highest octanes available m an open competitive market The Rio Grande and selling in freedom For greatest motoring pleasure your car the cart it deserves — the hide enjoy they’re the preparing as you chive Motor dollar plant is completely financed and maintained by the its sole objective is to serve youl it asks no and YOUR OWN HOME RAILROAD it’s a pleasure neighbor! Our great American system of free enterprise ia based on Radiator with the finest and PAYS ITS OWN WAY TOO! This company’s entire it ianof subsidized company itself independence cm now Free Atlas Pcrmaguard Antifreeze refills all winter at all Utoco dealers — give YOU EXPECT MORE FROM UTOCO AND YOU GET IT I — Oil ” |