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Show Washington, D. C. HENDERSON'S WARNING Price Administrator Leon Henderson Hender-son told the house ways and means committee a lot more during his secret testimony than he afterwards disclosed to newsmen. Here are some items which weren't made public: Henderson predicted that if the current levels of earnings are maintained, main-tained, the total national income this year will approximate 117 billion dollars, or 25 billions more than in 1941. On the other hand, due to the enormous war" production demands, the supply of consumer goods will be 26 per cent less than last year. This wide disparity between purchasing pur-chasing power and available consumer con-sumer goods, Henderson warned, is the great inflationary "explosive" factor. With a lot more money in people's pockets than supplies on which to spend it, a competitive situation develops that may set off a catastrophic price runaway unless un-less drastically controlled. 17-Billiion Excess. Illustrating this problem, Henderson Hender-son pointed out that about 31 billions of the estimated 117-billion national income will be absorbed by taxes and savings, leaving 86 billions in spendable money. However, there will be only 69 billions of consumer commodities. This 17-billion excess, he declared, is what must be kept in check in order to prevent it from setting in motion an inflationary spiral that would smash the nation's economic system. . Tough as this problem is, Henderson Hender-son predicted that the situation will be even worse in 1943. He estimated that by next year purchasing power will be three times greater than in 1932 while the supply of consumer goods will be only the same as in that year, the pit of the depression. The price administrator told the committee that the only way disastrous disas-trous inflation can be averted is by the most stringent government controls. con-trols. He said he fully realized that such measures as rationing and price ceilings might cause bootlegging boot-legging and "blackmarkets." But he expressed the belief that patriotic public opinion would powerfully militate against such lawbreaking. "In England," Henderson pointed out, "bootlegging of food and other scarce commodities is causing so much public resentment that many are demanding that those who buy or sell on the 'black market' 1 taken out and shot." BIG BUSINESS MIRACLES No one ever would have suspected it, but Harold Ickes, the New Deal's most violent baiter of big business, has been performing some quiet miracles in obtaining big business busi-ness co-operation. Not only is he now on good terms with the moguls of the oil industry, including such bitter political op-; ponents as Joe and Howard Pew, leaders of Pennsylvania Republicanism, Republican-ism, but he has also been getting cooperation co-operation from the railroads and trucking companies. This is one of the few good things that has come out of the war. Ever since trucks began hauling freight, the feud between them and the railroads has been the toughest problem faced by the Interstate Commerce commission. But now Petroleum Co-ordinator Ickes has persuaded the ancient rivals ri-vals to make a friendly division of the tremendous oil transportation business whereby the railroads withdrew with-drew from short hauls, and turn business over to trucks, thus releasing releas-ing tank cars for the longer and more economic hauls. For instance, a railroad tank car, with a capacity of 8,000 gallons, operating op-erating between Whiting, Ind., and the west side of Chicago, requires six days to make the "turn around." But a tank truck, capacity 7,500 gallons, gal-lons, can do the same "turn around" in five hours. Thus, one tank truck, working 24 hours, (and all such equipment is on a 24-hour basis) would relieve the equivalent of 16 or 20 tank cars. These cars, in turn, are being placed on the longer hauls from the Gulf to the East coast. Result of such economies and overtime operations is that railroads, which normally move practically no oil to the East coast, are now moving mov-ing 650,000 barrels a day. Tankers (ships) normally supply 65 per cent of the East coast requirement, but with the withdrawal of tankers, tank cars are being rushed into the breach. WIG WAGS The war department has asked congress for a $10 a mon'.h pay raise for West Point cadets. Prcs- ent rate is $65, the department says i it ought to be $75 because the pres-: pres-: ent class will be $250,000 in debt when it graduates. The marine corps is urgently in need of Japanese translators and interpreters. in-terpreters. If you have a working knowledge of Japanese, get in touch with the corps at once, either by writing to Washington or visiting the nearest recruiting station. |