On the Hooks

Soon Franklin Roosevelt will be smack in the middle of his Term IV campaign. He will also be smack in the middle of one of the toughest politico-economic dilemmas of his career: he must decide whether to relax the Little Steel formula in order to permit the wage increases demanded by the A.F. L. and C.I.O. If he allows wages to rise, price stabilization might collapse; if he holds the lid down on wages, he may lose important labor support.

As the end of the German war seemed nearer, labor began to put forward more & more demands that the Little Steel formula be junked. The unions contended that even now the formula's pegging of wages on the basis of a 15% rise in the cost of living was ridiculous; that the "actual" living cost had rocketed 45% since January 1941. (The Bureau of Labor Statistics insists that living costs have gone up only 24%.) After the war, the unions fear they will lose the special wartime conditions that fattened pay envelopes : overtime, upgrading and night-shift premiums.

In Washington last week one White House adviser admitted that the wage dilemma must be faced before election. Then he said: "Christ! Why does anyone ever want to be President?"

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